At least seventeen people were killed, and more than fifteen left wounded, after the latest U.S. mass shooting took place at high school in south Florida on Wednesday.
While police say they have a single suspect in custody—identified as Nikolas Cruz, a former student of the school where the massacre took place—gun control advocates reacted to the latest horrific incident by declaring once more that only legislative action, backed by a popular demand by those sick and tired of such violence, will put an end to the carnage that has now become so numbingly common in American society.
“We should never accept these horrific acts of violence as routine,” declared Giffords Courage to End Gun Violence, the advocacy group founded by former Democratic congresswoman Gabbie Giffords. “And we must never stop demanding that our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.”
We should never accept these horrific acts of violence as routine.
And we must never stop demanding that our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe. https://t.co/78PglvYNio pic.twitter.com/aOGK3PtIwY
— GIFFORDS (@GIFFORDS_org) February 15, 2018
It is long past time for Congress to find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby.
It's not only their job to protect our kids in their classrooms, on the playgrounds, and in their neighborhoods – it should be their number one priority. https://t.co/0DIWoZVySM pic.twitter.com/657IkXd3a5
— GIFFORDS (@GIFFORDS_org) February 15, 2018
“No more moments of silence. No more #thoughtsandprayers,” added Women Against Gun Violence, which also said that only strong anti-gun legislation can curb such senseless violence.
No more moments of silence.
No more #thoughtsandprayers .
For 25 years, we have taken action. We changed gun laws in CA. We educated the public. CA has strongest gun laws and is 1 of the states with lowest gun death rate per capita. Join us: https://t.co/HQlKzGwqDQ pic.twitter.com/pcZQjZ3FeR— Women Against Gun Violence (@WAGV) February 15, 2018
Meanwhile, putting Wednesday's shooting in the larger context, the Gun Violence Archive released its latest set of figures detailing the astronomically high rate of gun violence in the U.S.:
Real-time U.S. gun violence data, as of 2/14/18:
•1,806 gun deaths
•3,126 gun injuries
•69 children shot or killed
•331 teenagers shot or killed
•181 incidents of defensive gun use
•215 unintentional shootings
•30 mass shootings
•11 school shootings with injury or death— The Gun Violence Archive (@GunDeaths) February 14, 2018
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