Thanks to Diana C.
Diana-
Today was “Footloose and Fancy Day” at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Students and teachers were asked to wear a nice outfit with fun or fancy shoes.
It was the last week of school filled with festive events and dress-up themes for the elementary school children, but one that ended with students being rushed out of their classes while police officers rushed in with guns drawn.
Today’s school shooting in Texas is now the fourth deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history, behind only Virginia Tech, Parkland, and, of course, Sandy Hook.
Our nation’s schools should be the safest places in our communities, full of learning, fun and the kinds of happy memories Robb Elementary tried to provide for their kids in the final days of the school year.
They should not be places of horror and nightmares.
Speaking is still physically difficult for me, but my feelings are crystal clear: I am furious.
I am furious with those who have the power to act and save lives but are afraid to do anything to end this uniquely American epidemic.
I know the fear of the gun lobby that those cowards have must be nothing like the fear those children in Texas felt as their lives and the lives of their classmates ended in a hail of bullets.
Or the fear the children who survived today’s massacre will feel every single time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering in an effort to keep them safe.
Or the fear the parents must have felt when they were alerted that there was an active shooter situation happening at their kid’s school.
Senator Chris Murphy said it best to his colleagues in the Senate today, “What are we doing?”
Congress knows how to solve this problem.
Congress knows the steps we can take to protect our kids in their classrooms.
And they know because this is the only country in the developed world where this kind of slaughter happens on a routine basis.
So yes, our thoughts and prayers are once again with the victims of this shooting, their families, and their friends. But our anger and outrage are with those who have the power to act and choose to do nothing.
We do not have to accept these horrific acts of violence as routine.
And we must never stop demanding our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.
I will not rest until we have righted the wrong our elected officials in Congress have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can finally look our parents in the face and say: we are doing everything we can to keep your children safe.
Thank you for standing with me in this struggle.
With courage,
Gabby Giffords