Statement From Renée Hopkins, CEO Of The Alliance For Gun Responsibility, About The School Shootings This Week:

“Our thoughts are with the students, their families, first responders and the greater San Juan County community, as they process and cope with today’s tragic school shooting at Aztec High School.

All public places—especially schools—should be a safe place for everyone. Students should be free to learn and thrive and be shielded from any violence. Yet in just a few moments, the lives of so many students and their families were changed.

As our thoughts are with those impacted in New Mexico, they are still with the students at Graham-Kapowsin High School and the Tacoma community, who are still reeling from the gun violence on their school campus earlier this week. The two students who were shot survived, but face a long, difficult road to recovery.

Keeping our communities and schools safe should be a paramount duty that every community member owns. While details in these tragic events are still unfolding, we know one thing for sure. To prevent senseless tragedy, we must protect our children by ensuring they do not have access to guns.

Moments of crisis can quickly turn deadly with easy access to firearms, especially when children are involved. The impact of gun violence reverberates long past the shooting itself and we are far too familiar with its devastating impact. Working together to protect children by removing access to firearms, we can save lives.”