Brady Calls for Action Following Shooting in Boulder, Colorado

Washington, D.C., March 22, 2021 - Following the mass shooting at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, where 10 people, including Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, were killed, Brady reiterates the call for common-sense policies to put an end to gun violence. While the details regarding this shooting continue to emerge, it is unacceptable that our nation allows this violence to continue.

Brady President Kris Brown shared:

“Less than one week after the murder of eight people in Georgia shocked the conscience of our country, Americans ended another day with reports of a mass shooting that has left 10 people, who were going about their daily routine and the first officer to respond to the scene, dead.

Ours is the only country that endures such gun violence because a contingent of our political leaders, putting gun industry profits over American lives, refuse to do anything to protect us from the next act of gun violence. Americans kill each other with guns at 25 times the rate of other high-income countries, while Brady estimates that there were over 601,000 firearms sold in Colorado alone in 2020, a 49 percent increase over the 403,000 sold in 2019. We all are killed or injured in the same horrific way when a bullet hits our bodies.The people who can protect us have been elected to do so.

While not every policy solution will solve mass shootings, enacting common sense measures will save lives. And, a comprehensive approach that includes a host of measures, such as executive actions by President Biden and funding critical for violence intervention, will save many. We have the strongest gun violence prevention champion on record in President Joe Biden and gun violence prevention majorities in both chambers of Congress. Our leaders can begin with strengthening the Brady Background Check system, passing H.R. 8 in the Senate just as the House did and sending it to President Biden for his signature.

Our nation is at a crisis point. Lives are at stake and, as today has shown, every day we wait even more are lost. We must start now.”

Colorado resident and Brady Vice President of Organizing Maisha Fields shared:

“As a Coloradan and a gun violence survivor, I know all too well the effect of gun violence on our state, our communities, and our loved ones. Sadly, we are not unique in experiencing this violence. The sound of gun fire in grocery stores, churches and schools has become too familiar in our country. An overwhelming number of Americans live in fear for their safety in public places - a fear reinforced again today as a shooter killed multiple people, including a police officer, in a grocery store. We stand with the victims and survivors today. As someone who has lost a family member to gun violence, I am heartbroken knowing the pain that so many in the Boulder community are feeling tonight. It is unconscionable that our nation continues to allow this violence to continue. Enough is enough. We need action to stop a Monday afternoon trip to the grocery store from becoming a death sentence.”

Just before the 2020 election, Brady and Public Policy Polling surveyed Colorado voters. This poll showed yet again that Colorado voters like the overwhelming majority of Americans want and support common-sense gun violence prevention policies. Results from this poll show that of Colorado voters:

• 70 percent support a policy that would require background checks to buy ghost gun kits, while only two in ten oppose such a measure.

• Two-thirds, 66 percent, support a waiting period for gun purchases

• 62 percent support Congress passing a universal background check law, double those who oppose such a law.

• Over six in ten, 61 percent, support the state’s recently enacted Extreme Risk Law, sometimes referred to as a “red flag” law

• 56 percent are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports universal background checks on all gun transactions