The California chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement after a shooting in downtown San Jose near a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) maintenance yard. Details are still developing, but law enforcement officials confirmed that there were multiple injuries and multiple fatalities; at least some of the victims were VTA employees.
“Our hearts are broken for everyone impacted by this devastating shooting,” said Rachel Michelson, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action in San Jose. “We shouldn’t have to live like this, with the threat of gun violence looming over all of us wherever we go and whatever we do. We’ll honor their lives with action to end gun violence.”
Every day in the U.S. on average, more than 100 people are killed with guns, and more than 230 are wounded.
What to know about gun violence in California:
- In California, on average, over 3,000 people are shot and killed and over 6,800 others are wounded by guns every year.
- Gun violence costs California $22.6 billion each year, of which $1.2 billion is paid by taxpayers.
- Homicide levels in major cities in California, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego, have risen over the past year, as the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the root causes of gun violence and brought unprecedented challenges to the work of local gun violence intervention programs.
Statistics about gun violence in California are available here. If you are interested in speaking with a California Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteer, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
