For Release: Tuesday, April 25, 2000
Yesterday’s shooting at the National Zoo in Washington, DC is unfortunately only the latest grisly example that this type of gun violence will continue until the decision is made to ban handguns, the Violence Policy Center, a Washington, DC-based gun control organization, stated today.
VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann states, “Yesterday’s shooting at a major tourist attraction in the nation’s capital provides stark proof that no one is safe in any public place not in school, in church, or at the zoo until we deal with our nation’s gun problem. And the only rational response is a national ban on handguns.”
The VPC noted that the shooting, like so many mass shootings before it, simply could not have been perpetrated with any weapon other than a handgun. Only handguns can be so easily carried and concealed.
Adds Sugarmann, “Although the District of Columbia has had a ban on handgun sale and possession since 1976, Washington residents are held hostage by the lax gun laws of surrounding jurisdictions. The inescapable conclusion, confirmed by each new, terrible shooting, is that this is America’s future until we ban handguns.”
About the Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
