FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2023
PHOENIX – The Arizona House Democratic Caucus today released the following statement regarding the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine:
"On Wednesday, a 40-year-old man in Lewiston, Maine, took a weapon of war into a bowling alley and other nearby businesses and massacred 18 innocent people and wounded more than a dozen others. Our hearts break for another community in our country shattered by the epidemic of gun violence. The horror in Lewiston is compounded not because it is rare, but because it is so common. This was the 566th mass shooting in our country this year alone. No other nation on Earth comes anywhere close to the daily death and catastrophe unleashed with firearms on our communities, on our neighbors and families.
Our caucus is once again ready to pass common-sense gun safety reforms, ideas backed by vast majorities of the American public who are sick of the bloodshed. But our Republican colleagues with their thin majority must also find the courage to stand up to the powerful gun lobby that encourages and facilitates this violence when they demonize and mischaracterize even minor efforts at reform. It's long past time to do the hard work and for leaders to lead."
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