America woke up to a tragic, record-shattering mass shooting on Monday morning. Again.
“It’s outrageous and horrific that in this country, we continually are changing the label of what’s the worst mass shooting in modern history,” said Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFire PA, a gun safety advocacy group, in the wake of the Las Vegas music festival shooting that left at least 58 dead and more than 500 injured – yet again breaking the country’s record for the worst mass shooting in history.
“Last year, it was Pulse. This year, it’s Las Vegas. This doesn’t happen anywhere else,” Goodman said. “This is preventable. This is not how we need to live.”
CeaseFire PA and city officials will be holding a vigil Tuesday evening for the victims of the Vegas shooting at Thomas Paine Plaza in front of the Municipal Services Building, Goodman said. They will be calling for action by elected officials in Washington and Harrisburg to stop the ongoing gun-related bloodshed in the U.S., she said.
“This is their job, and they can’t get a pass on it anymore. It’s up to us as voters and constituents to make out voices heard,” she said, “because we can’t afford this anymore.”
City Council President Darrell Clarke released a statement demanding legislative action after the mass shooting.
“I’m angry that the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world cannot muster the political will to regulate the manufacture, sale and trafficking of deadly weapons. Most people have no business owning a weapon manufactured for war – let alone ten,” he said. “Living in terror of random gun violence in our concert venues, movie theaters and schools is not freedom.”
The ongoing political struggle over Second Amendment rights, gun control and the accessibility of guns in the U.S. to mentally ill people has raged for years. Under the Trump administration, Congress has already pushed through some rollbacks of gun regulations.
Later this week, they were set to hear a bill reducing restrictions, Goodman pointed out.
“Can you imagine if this guy had a silencer, if nobody heard anything, people just started dropping?” she asked. “What are we doing in this country? Making it easier for people to carry silencers, to carry guns across state lines, instead of making sure kids don’t have guns? … We can’t accept this anymore.”
Gov. Wolf, Mayor Kenney, AG Shapiro and City Council President Clarke are scheduled to attend the 6 p.m. rally at Thomas Paine Plaza on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
