Talking at a marketing campaign occasion in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris broke from her ready remarks and addressed the college taking pictures at Apalachee Excessive Faculty, which is positioned exterior of Atlanta, Georgia.
“I grew up in California. We had earthquake drills, fire drills, but our kids are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential and some part of their big beautiful brain is concerned about a shooter busting through the door of the classroom,” mentioned the Democratic presidential nominee.
“It does not have to be this way, and this is just one of the many issues that’s at stake in this election,” Harris mentioned.
Based on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, 4 folks have been killed within the incident and no less than 9 have been injured.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith described the crime scene to reporters as an “evil thing.”
The mass taking pictures follows a Labor Day weekend marred by a number of incidents of gun violence. Based on the Gun Violence Archive, between Friday, Aug. 30, and Monday, Sept. 2, no less than 141 folks throughout america have been shot and killed, with a further 357 wounded.
Regardless of a lower in violent crime throughout the nation up to now few years, an August report from Everytown for Gun Security discovered a rise in shootings at Ok-12 faculties in the course of the 2023-2024 college yr (144) in comparison with the earlier 2022-2023 college yr (110). Everytown has been accumulating knowledge on the subject since 2013 and essentially the most shootings occurred in 2021-2022 on the top of the COVID-19 pandemic (192 shootings).
Harris has spent a lot of her time in public workplace advocating for gun violence prevention measures. As a prosecutor in San Francisco, she prioritized home violence instances. Whereas she was California lawyer normal, Harris pushed for the state to move a purple flag regulation, stopping gun gross sales to those that a court docket has decided may very well be a hazard to themselves and others.
As vice chairman within the Biden administration, Harris was concerned within the passage and implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the primary federal gun security laws to grow to be regulation in a long time.
The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has been a longtime ally of the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation, which has opposed gun security laws on the state, native, and federal ranges. Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign was endorsed by the NRA, which praised him as a “powerful champion” for the group’s extremist agenda.
“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” Trump wrote on his Fact Social web site. “These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Trump has expressed comparable condolences after different shootings whereas failing to help laws—just like the assault weapons ban Harris backs—that will fight gun violence.
Actually, following a faculty taking pictures in Iowa in January, Trump supplied “support and our deepest sympathies” to the victims, however then added, “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But have to get over it, we have to move forward.”
