Columbine Mass Shooting Survivor, Everytown, Moms Demand Action Statements on the 20-year Mark of Columbine High School Mass Shooting
4.17.2019
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statements in remembrance of the 20-year mark of the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, that killed 12 students and one teacher, and wounded more than twenty others.
Earlier today, 19 school districts across Colorado were closed after an 18-year-old made credible threats to the area.
STATEMENT FROM CONI SANDERS, A MEMBER OF THE EVERYTOWN SURVIVOR NETWORK WHOSE FATHER, DAVE SANDERS, WAS THE TEACHER SHOT AND KILLED AT COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL:
“I never imagined that twenty years after my father was shot and killed at Columbine High School that I would be locked in my office with police stationed outside because there was a potential school shooter on the loose in our community. This should be our time to reflect and remember the lives that were taken from us. Instead, because of our nation’s weak gun laws, our community is once again being terrorized by the threat of gun violence. I will never accept this as normal. I will continue to help make a difference so that others don’t experience the same pain from gun violence that far too many have experienced.”
STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“Twenty years later, many of the families, classmates and teachers who survived the mass shooting at Columbine High School are still at the forefront of the movement to end gun violence. The decades-long resilience of these survivors has inspired countless others to turn their pain into action.”
STATEMENT FROM SHANNON WATTS, FOUNDER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“For two decades, Columbine families have been part of the club no one wants to join – the millions of Americans whose lives have been forever changed by gun violence. We stand with Columbine survivors every day, and we commit to honoring them – and every gun violence survivor – by continuing to demand stronger gun laws here in Colorado and across America.”
Just last week, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed Red Flag legislation creating an Extreme Risk Protection Order, making his the 15th state to empower family members or law enforcement to ask a judge to temporarily suspend a person’s access to guns when they pose a serious risk to themselves or others.
The bill’s enactment makes Colorado the latest in a trio of Western states to enact major gun safety legislation this year. More here.