Violence Policy Center Statement on Shooting Outside Empire State Building

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Aug 24, 2012, 02:11 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following the fourth high-profile shooting in little over a month, this time outside the Empire State Building in New York City and reportedly involving a 45 caliber handgun, the Violence Policy Center, a national non-profit educational organization working to stop gun death and injury, issued the following statement:

"How long are we going to ignore America's gun crisis? Today's shooting outside the Empire State building is the fourth high-profile shooting in little over a month, following the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting, the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Sikh Temple shooting, and a shooting outside Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. One can only guess where the next shooting will occur--but we do know that it will occur. Today's shooter reportedly used a 45 caliber handgun to end the life of a former co-worker, offering yet another example of how the ready availability of semiautomatic handguns that can be equipped with high-capacity ammunition magazines destroy lives and make everyone less safe. All Americans deserve the right to feel safe in public spaces--in theaters, their places of worship, and walking city streets. The deadly mindset propounded by the gun industry and the gun lobby that guns are the ultimate problem solver is stripping away the feeling of safety that communities across the country not only expect, but deserve. It is long past time to regulate the out-of-control gun industry that makes these horrendous public shootings possible."

The Violence Policy Center (www.vpc.org) is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter (http://twitter.com/VPCinfo) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Violence-Policy-Center/284334690298?ref=ts).

Contact: Marty Langley, 202-822-8200 x109, [email protected].

SOURCE Violence Policy Center