Statement by President Grudzen Calling for More Gun Control

The following statistics appeared in a recent story on National Public Radio:

100: Number of people killed by guns in the U.S. every day

12: Number of children who die every day from gun violence in the U.S.

950: School shootings since Sandy Hook, including 27 school shootings so far this year

18 to 21: Peak ages for violent offending with firearms

8 million: Number of AR-15s and its variations in circulation

9 in 10: Number of people who will die after attempting suicide with a gun

98: Percentage of mass shooters who are men

89: Percentage of gun owners who favor preventing the “mentally ill” from purchasing guns

77: Percentage of gun owners who favor background checks at private sales and gun shows

54: Percentage of gun deaths that are suicides; 43% are murders

79: Percentage of murders that involved a firearm

<1: Percentage of people who defended themselves with their guns in violent crimes

The numbers are staggering in their scope, but they also cry out in their candor.  The simple solution to the crisis we face is sane and sustained gun regulation. President Biden has just signed a bipartisan bill on gun safety into law, the first major federal legislation in decades, but it is only one small step that must be built upon if we are to wrest ourselves from the grip of the gun lobby and see an end to the gun violence that plagues our nation.

The argument for the Second Amendment’s upholding a “well-regulated militia” fails horrendously in the face of the carnage committed precisely because of the lack of such regulation.

GMU calls on people of all faiths and political affiliations to uphold the preservation of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” by advocating for stricter gun control and an end to our worship of weapons, which is literally killing us – and most heartbreakingly, our children.