Former Congressman and Democratic candidate for governor Joe Cunningham today released the following statement regarding the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas:
“My heart is broken after the events in Texas yesterday. As a parent I am horrified, I am devastated, but most of all I am angry. I'm angry that our children cannot even go to school without facing terrors that no child should EVER have to experience. I am sickened by the thought of my son not coming home from school because of political cowardice. Any elected official who is willing to sacrifice innocent children for gun lobby checks and political power is morally bankrupt and needs to be voted out yesterday.
I have been a leader on common-sense gun reform my entire political career. Not only did I sponsor and support legislation in Congress, but I released a plan to tackle gun violence in South Carolina almost a year ago. Not a damn thing has been done since I released that plan because our state's leadership has sold their souls for political points in their primary.
Political obstructionists will do everything in their power to convince you that these horrors are simply the cost of living in America and that nothing can be done to stop the carnage.
Nothing could be further from the truth. No other country has this problem except the United States. We could drastically reduce the likelihood of these attacks if we had the political will. But the truth is too many of our elected leaders are more focused on saving their own political lives than in taking any action to save the lives of our kids. Until that changes, these massacres will continue.
To every parent in South Carolina: you shouldn't have to live in fear of losing your child at the hand of senseless gun violence. To every student in South Carolina: you shouldn't have to go to school each day in fear that you won't make it home alive. To everyone who is just as furious as I am: turn that anger into action. Vote. Them. All. Out.”
