Captain Mark Kelly, Co-Founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions, issued the following statement on the 7th anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre:
“The events of April 16th, 2007 shattered lives and our idea that a college campus can be a place free from the horrors of gun violence. For the families of those whose lives were lost on that tragic day, Gabby and I know the pain will never go away – just as it will never go away for the families of Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, and so many more communities across our country. Like the shooting in Tucson, the Virginia Tech massacre was a reminder of the tragic loss that can occur when untreated mental illness and guns are combined. In the case of the Virginia Tech massacre, a young man who had been adjudicated mentally ill exploited loopholes in state reporting and got his hands on a gun. Unspeakable horror was the result.
“Virginia Tech is also a reminder that a state and a nation can respond to tragedy by making its communities safer. Virginia is now a national leader in submitting records of the dangerously mentally ill to the national background check system. And the citizens of the Commonwealth recently voted three gun safety advocates into the three statewide elective offices. This is why we continue to fight for common-sense policies, like strengthening mental health reporting and expanded background checks, that will help protect our rights as gun owners and reduce gun violence.”
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