“America’s moms mourn the latest gun violence atrocity, which has again saddened and shaken the nation. Instead of a celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory, scores of people were shot and injured at yesterday’s parade. Half the victims this time were children and of course many more will be forever harmed by the terror and trauma they experienced at what should have been a joyous event.

“Incidents like this have become commonplace in our country, which has many more guns than people. Last weekend, a person with a history of mental illness opened fire with an assault weapon at a crowded mega-church in Texas. Earlier this year, the Denver Nuggets championship celebration was destroyed by a mass shooting. And we have seen school shootings already this year in multiple states.

“We call on Congress and all elected leaders to challenge and change the deadly gun culture perpetrated by the NRA gun extremists and their allies – a culture that has made guns the top-of-mind response to too many problems, justified opposition to even the smallest policy reforms, and opened the floodgates to guns flowing into every nook and cranny of our communities. Unless or until we make a serious commitment to preventing gun violence and the tragedies it constantly and inevitably brings, moms will continue to raise their children amidst the carnage, people will be injured, killed and traumatized every day, and life in the United States will be diminished.”

-Statement of Gloria Pan, Senior Vice President, MomsRising

“Yesterday’s shootings in Kansas City are heartbreaking. That it happened on Valentine’s Day, which is also the anniversary of the devastating Parkland shooting, makes it all the more horrendous.

“It’s time – past time – to demand that gun ownership carry responsibility, that lawmakers ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and that we end, once and for all, the measures that prevent us from holding gun manufacturers accountable for their products and deceptive marketing. 

“Moms want our leaders to challenge and change the deadly gun culture, starting with a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as by repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (“PLCAA”), which has exempted gun manufacturers from being held accountable for their harmful and misleading marketing practices which have been the main purveyor of deadly gun culture.

“The Republican resistance to meaningful gun policy reform must end. Moms deserve to be able to raise our children without gun violence intruding in their lives.”

-Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising