According to reports, multiple students have been killed or injured in a school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. In response, Nick Wilson, senior director of Gun Violence Prevention at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
"I send my deepest condolences to all of the loved ones of the students whose lives were lost today, and to the many students who will live with the trauma of today’s attack for the rest of their lives. What happened at Apalachee High School today is not normal, but it is increasingly commonplace. Today’s shooting was the 218th shooting at a K-12 school this year. Children heading back to school should not live their lives in fear.
While we are still learning details about the shooter and how the guns used in today’s attack were obtained, Georgia has some of the weakest gun laws in the country. And the risk of this type of attack has only increased since Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) signed a bill that repealed concealed carry permits in Georgia into law in 2022.
Commonsense gun legislation saves lives. It doesn’t have to be this way."
Related resources include “Debunking the ‘Guns Make Us Safer’ Myth” by Allison Jordan, Chandler Hall, and Devin Hughes; “Why We Fight: Gun Violence Survivors Share Their Stories” by Nick Wilson and Chandler Hall; “The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, 1 Year Later” by Nick Wilson, Chandler Hall, and Allison Jordan; “Gun Violence in Rural America” by David Correa and Nick Wilson; and “Fact Sheet: Weakening Requirements to Carry a Concealed Firearm Increases Violent Crime” by Nick Wilson.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Julia Cusick at [email protected].
