Statement From Moms Demand Action Regional Manager Who Was In Lockdown During Shooting At Purdue University Today, The 35th School Shooting Since Newtown

Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action Release List of School Shootings and Updated Ad Featuring School Shooting Scenario: www.DemandAction.org/SchoolShootings

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to a school shooting today at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in which one student was killed, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense for America released the following statement from Julia Chester, Regional Manager for Moms Demand Action and Associate Professor of Psychological Studies at Purdue University:

"For more than a year, I've worked with hundreds of thousands of other moms across the country to help stem the tide of gun violence in America. I was spurred into action by the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Today, I experienced the terror of an active shooting first-hand. While I was working in my office at Purdue University, I was alerted that there was a shooting on campus and told to shelter-in-place along with colleagues and students. The fear and confusion on campus was palpable. No matter how many drills you've been through, panic takes its toll on logic. No matter how many doors you try to shut between you and the shooter, a bullet may find its way through.   

"The shooting, which took place just a couple of buildings away from my office, is still being investigated, but regardless of the outcome, there is one thing we all already know: we owe our children and ourselves a world where we don't have to live by lockdown. I am thankful that today I was safe, but what about the next time? As a mother, as a teacher, as an American, I call on Congress to not wait for the next school shooting to act. Our schools and students should not be the frontline of gun violence prevention. Pass new and stronger gun laws now."

Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action also released a list of the school shootings since Newtown and updated an ad featuring a school shooting scenario – both are available here: www.DemandAction.org/schoolshootings. Today's shooting marks the 35^th school shooting since Newtown. 

About Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving was created to change laws regarding drunk driving, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to build support for common-sense gun reforms. The nonpartisan grassroots movement of American mothers is demanding new and stronger solutions to lax gun laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our children and families. In just one year, the organization has more than 130,000 members with a chapter in every state in the country. The group recently announced it is joining forces with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country. 

For more information or to get involved visit www.momsdemandaction.org. Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/MomsDemandAction or on Twitter @MomsDemand

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors of major American cities to more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters – making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united mayors, gun violence survivors and everyday Americans around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.  The group recently joined forces with Moms Demand Action, the leading grassroots movement of American mothers working to prevent gun violence. Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org or on Twitter @DemandAction

CONTACT:
Erika Soto Lamb: erika@maig.org or 646-580-5281

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns