Rice: “It’s up to us to decide if this tragedy will finally compel us to act, or if we’ll once again do nothing and wait for another mass shooting to top Las Vegas as the deadliest in American history.”
U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice released the following statement regarding the shooting last night in Las Vegas.
“It’s hard to find the words to express how it feels to once again wake up to reports of the deadliest mass shooting in American history. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before—as many as 58 people dead, more than 500 injured, several in critical condition. But at the same time, it feels like déjà vu.
“Right now, I’m praying for the hundreds of Americans who just lost loved ones and family members and friends. I’m praying for the victims fighting for their lives, for the doctors and nurses and emergency responders working tirelessly to save them, and for all the police officers and firefighters and first responders who risked their lives to save others, who ran towards the threat while helping others get to safety.
“We don’t yet know how or why this happened, what the shooter’s motivation was, how he acquired these weapons, or whether this could have been prevented. The authorities conducting this investigation will try to answer many of those questions for us. But the question of what happens next—whether this will be a turning point, or déjà vu—that’s entirely up to us. It’s up to each and every one of us to decide whether we want to live in a country where public gatherings are dominated by the threat of gun violence. It’s up to us to decide if it’s OK for someone in America to acquire weapons capable of killing 58 people in a few minutes and injure scores more. It’s up to us to decide if we want our police officers and first responders—the heroes we thank and praise after incidents like this—to face that kind of firepower. It’s up to us to decide if this tragedy will finally compel us to act, or if we’ll once again do nothing and wait for another mass shooting to top Las Vegas as the deadliest in American history.
“We can’t prevent every mass shooting in America, but we know without a doubt that we can prevent some. We can’t save every life lost to gun violence in America, but we know that we can save some. The question is whether we care enough to try.”
—Submitted by the office of Congresswoman Kathleen Rice
