“In all likelihood, however, these [Lafayette] shots that were fired will again fall on deaf ears in the Capitol,” Maloney statement read. “Shame on this Congress for continuing to sit still as our people are maimed and killed in the streets, churches, military bases and movie theaters.
The congressman continued, “This has got to stop.”
On Thursday evening, 59-year-old John Russel Houser opened fire at The Grand Theatre, which caused at least three deaths and multiple injuries.
The United States is facing numerous mass shootings in the result of poor gun-safety laws. According to an FBI study, mass shootings occur nearly once every month in the country.
“There are too many families who again today will struggle to comprehend how such horrors could have happened. They join the many thousands who suffer silently as Congress does nothing to stop the swelling of their ranks,” Maloney said.
US President Barack Obama and US Vice President Joe Biden together have repeatedly called for stricter gun legislation after numerous mass shooting incidents around the United States. Their efforts, however, have failed time and time again in Congress.
Obama said in an interview with the BBC aired on Thursday that establishing gun-safety laws in the United States has been the biggest challenge for him as a president.
In 2013, more than 11,000 US citizens were killed by guns, according to the White House.
