Workers United holds the community of Uvalde, Texas in our hearts; It is time for sensible and effective gun laws. If not now, when?

PHILADELPHIA -- Our hearts ache for the mothers and fathers who lost their children, and the entire community of Uvalde, Texas who lost 19 children and two adults to a teenage murderer who had access to guns.

We are mourning with you, and crying with you, and angry for you.

For all the mothers and fathers, family, friends, and neighbors, colleagues and strangers alike, all across the United States, for as long as our country fails to enact sensible and effective gun laws, we will all live in fear that our children, or any of our loved ones could fall victim to the next senseless mass shooting.

It is time to speak up and push for more effective gun laws in our country – to ensure that responsible adults have the right to own a gun, and that guardrails are in place to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands.

How?

By electing into office politicians who are not afraid to vote for gun control and more stringent background checks.

Vote! And if you are not yet registered to vote, please do so!

Here’s why:

In 2005, in Minnesota, at Red Lake Senior High School, a 16-year-old gunman used semi-automatic pistols and a shotgun to murder five students, a teacher, a security guard, his grandfather and his companion, before killing himself.

In 2006, in Pennsylvania, at West Nickel Mines School, a gunman used a handgun, a pump-action shotgun, and a bolt-action rifle to murder five children and injure five more before killing himself.

In 2007, in Virginia, at Virginia Tech, a gunman used two semi-automatic pistols to murder 32 people, and wound another 17.

In 2008, in Illinois, at Northern Illinois University, a gunman used a shotgun and three semi-automatic pistols to murder five students and wound 17 before killing himself.

In 2012, in Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a gunman used two rifles and a handgun to murder 20 children and six adults before killing himself.

In 2014, in Washington, at Marysville Pilchuck High School, a 15-year-old gunman used a semi-automatic handgun to murder four students, and wound one before killing himself.

In 2015, in Oregon, at Umpqua Community College, a gunman used four semi-automatic pistols, a revolver, and a semi-automatic rifle to murder eight students, a professor, and wound nine others before killing himself.

In 2018, in Florida, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a 19-year-old gunman used a semi-automatic rifle to murder 17 students and wound another 17.

In 2018, in Texas, at Sante Fe High School, a 17-year-old gunman used a shotgun and a revolver to murder eight students and two teachers, and wound another 13.

These school mass shootings made headlines, but there are many more school shootings that have taken place where lives have been lost. These mass shootings can happen anywhere, at anytime. No where else in the world has school mass shootings occurred as frequently and of this magnitude as in the U.S. We must be doing something wrong.

According to the Centers for Disease and Control, in 2022, 45,222 people in the U.S. died from gun-related injuries.

According to the Pew Research Center, 30% of U.S. adults own guns.

This issue should not be a partisan issue. It should be about the value of human life. This issue is not as much about legal gun ownership as it is about accessibility to individuals who should not possess them – children, and those who are mentally-ill and pose a threat to themselves and others.

More effective and sensible gun laws are what we need now.

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