Thursday, January 26, 2006
For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 26, 2005
Contact: Daryl Presgraves
212-269-5106
daryl@paxusa.org
www.paxusa.org
NEW YORK -- After a 7-year-old girl was shot Tuesday by an 8-year-old boy who took a gun to a Maryland day care, PAX / Real Solutions to Gun Violence calls for an end to an epidemic of gun violence that is out of control.
"This has gotten ridiculous," said Daniel Gross, PAX co-founder and CEO, whose younger brother Matthew was critically injured in the 1997 shooting atop the Empire State Building. "Every day there is a new story about children shooting other children, bringing guns to school or worse, actually killing someone. What does it take before we stop as a nation and try to address an issue that can affect any of us at any moment?"
PAX is the country's largest nonpolitical, non-lobbying organization devoted to gun violence prevention, providing real, public health and safety based solutions to the gun violence crisis in America, an epidemic that claims the lives of 8 children and teens every day.
"We can only hope that this shocking and tragic story will serve as a tipping point for the American people, finally, to say enough is enough," Gross said. "When 8-year-olds are putting guns in their backpacks, perhaps people will take notice and demand solutions."
PAX comes across stories daily that point to an overwhelming yet surprisingly ignored national problem. Stories appear in news briefs and on the evening news describing a shooting as if it's just a part of every day life or, worse, a political debate over gun control.
The simple question is: Why are we willing to accept that? This is not an issue of gun control. This is an issue of gun violence being out of control. But the trend can be reversed.
"There are solutions that work," said Gross, pointing to PAX's SPEAK UP Campaign featuring the 1-866-SPEAK-UP youth violence prevention hotline and ASK Campaign that encourages parents to ask about guns in the homes where their children play. "At PAX, our efforts and those of our partners save lives every day. If all of us work together, we can end the epidemic of gun violence once and for all."
The following are just 13 examples of this disturbing trend. While many children are involved in gun violence daily, these incidents happened in the very place where children should be safe -- at school. In just three days, Monday through Wednesday:
Monday
- Elementary Student found with gun at A.G. Gaston School in Birmingham, Ala.
- Student shoots another student at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Calif.
Tuesday
- Student found with gun at Muskegon Heights High School in Muskegon, Mich.
- Student found with loaded gun at Scotlandville High School in Baton Rouge, La.
- Student found with gun at West High School in Columbus, Ohio.
- Shots were fired outside a basketball game in the parking lot at Foothill High School in North Highlands, Calif.
- Student shot another student with pellet gun at Horace Mann Middle School in Denver.
Wednesday
- Student found with gun and knife at Elkhardt Middle School in Richmond, Va.
- Police find a loaded gun inside a bathroom at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Okla.
- 17-year-old former student fires pellet handgun at Bowmanville High School in Bowmanville, N.C.
- Student found with gun at Woodcliff Academy in Wall, N.J.
- Student found with gun at H.E. McCraken Middle School in Bluffton, S.C.
- Student found with gun at Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas.
-30-
<< Home
