Senator Reverend Warnock hosted a news conference today to uplift the stories of gun violence survivors and push Congress to start a serious conversation about address the gun violence crisis

The news conference followed Senate Democrats’ special caucus meeting on gun safety legislation, held last week at Senator Warnock’s urging

As of May 18, 2023, there have been 227 mass shootings this year, according to Gun Violence Archive

Senator Reverend Warnock: “We can’t wait another 30 years for Congress to pass meaningful common sense gun safety legislation. And we can’t wait for the next headline, the next tragic flashpoint, because there is a profound way in which these tragedies are happening every single day”

Senator Reverend Warnock: “The message is clear today: that gun violence is not the cost of freedom. This is not the cost of freedom. This is the cost of blind obstinance.”

ICYMI: Senator Reverend Warnock Responds to Horrific Shooting in Midtown Atlanta, Calls on Congress to Turn Prayer into Action

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) convened lawmakers, gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates outside of the U.S. Capitol to uplift their personal stories of surviving and fighting against gun violence, demonstrate Americans’ widespread support for common-sense gun safety solutions, and make clear that Congress has an obligation to take the next steps to address the worsening gun violence crisis. 

Following up on Senate Democrats’ special caucus meeting on gun safety legislation, held last week at Senator Warnock’s urging, advocates for gun safety as well as gun violence survivors came together to remind Washington of the moral urgency to address the gun violence epidemic plaguing the nation. Joining Senator Warnock was U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT); U.S. Representatives Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL); Ashbey Beasley, a survivor from the Highland Park, IL shooting; Aalayah Eastmond, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL; Jakoby Mitchell, a survivor of a shooting in South Carolina; as well as Georgia resident Claudia Fruin, a Senior Ambassador with GIFFORDS and a gun owner and retired pediatrician.

See below key highlights from Senator Warnock’s press conference:

Senator Warnock: “We’re here today because Washington clearly is not listening to the people.

Senator Warnock: “We can’t wait another 30 years for Congress to pass meaningful common sense gun safety legislation. And we can’t wait for the next headline, the next tragic flashpoint, because there is a profound way in which these tragedies are happening every single day.

Senator Warnock: “We cannot rest. Our children are counting on us to keep them alive.

Senator Warnock: “The message is clear today: that gun violence is not the cost of freedom. This is not the cost of freedom. This is the cost of blind obstinance.”

Rep. Lucy McBath: “Thoughts and prayers are not stopping this carnage. And if that’s all that my colleagues have to offer to the survivors that we have every single day I suggest that you save your strength. Because faith without works is dead. Prayers without action is hollow.

Rep. Lucy McBath: “I know that we will end gun violence, and we can live freely in our communities and in our lives the way God intended us to live.”

Sen. Chris Murphy: “After 30 years of inaction, we broke the back of the gun lobby last year here in Washington D.C. and I am absolutely convinced that we are entering a decade of action.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost: “In a country where the leading cause of death for a child is to be shot to death, why are you doing nothing to end gun violence? Why are you not even having the conversation?”

Shooting survivor Ashbey Beasley: “Every day we expect kids to move past experiences with gun violence. We expect them to go back to schools that have been put through lockdown. We expect them to go back to learning in classrooms where they have piled up desks to barricade doors.

Shooting survivor Ashbey Beasley: “We the adults are failing our children. It’s time for us to stop normalizing mass shootings by putting our kids through lockdown drills and militarizing our schools instead of banning weapons of war. Enough is enough. It’s time for Congress to hear us, and act.”

Shooting survivor Aalayah Eastmond: “The longer these lawmakers wait, the longer children will have to worry about being gunned down in this country. Don’t force America’s children to live in fear – their happiness and safety should not come second to guns.”

Shooting survivor Jakoby Mitchell: “We deserve to be safe in our communities. We deserve to grow up and grow old. We deserve to be free from gun violence in this world that we are living in. This has to stop. We have to take action. We have to demand change right here and right now”

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