Uvalde Outrage Joint Statement

Legitimate, law-abiding American gun owners are today as outraged and saddened as everyone else by the horrible acts of a crazed murderer in Uvalde, Texas. The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms join our fellow citizens to grieve the unimaginable loss suffered by the Uvalde community and the citizens of Texas.

The past 24 hours have allowed us to learn far more about the killer and the circumstances surrounding his deplorable act of violence. Unlike anti-gun-rights politicians including Joe Biden, who quickly exploited this horror to push an agenda aimed at diminishing the Second Amendment and shifting blame to millions of gun owners, we waited for more information.

If there is blame beyond that of the killer, it must be shared by political leaders whose policies have turned our public schools into soft targets, and by self-appointed activists and school boards that have resisted school resource officer programs, opposed and prohibited programs that train teachers and staff to provide armed first response in an emergency, while perpetuating dangerous "Gun Free School Zone" laws.

President Biden demanded "commonsense gun laws." We believe it is time for common sense, period. We spend billions of dollars on foreign aid. We can provide millions of dollars to local law enforcement agencies for school resource officers. We protect our politicians with armed security. Let's protect our schools to the same degree.

Let's take advantage of a great resource: our retired military and law enforcement professionals. They protected our nation and our communities. They can easily protect our school children.

Instead of demonizing gun owners and the firearms industry, bring them to the table and benefit from their knowledge. Together we can succeed where the gun prohibition agenda has disastrously and repeatedly failed.