Brian Barkow, law enforcement executive and candidate for Milwaukee County Sheriff, issued the following statement today:
“This week, nineteen schoolchildren and two teachers were murdered, and seventeen people wounded, in yet another horrifying act of mass gun violence: this time at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Yet again, we watched in horror as parents grieved the loss of their children. Yet again, we witnessed a community mourn the brutal, senseless killing of innocent young people and adults who gave their lives protecting them.
“The families and loved ones of those murdered in Uvalde, and their grieving community, are in our prayers. But thoughts and prayers are not enough when time after time in our country, year after year, we watch as innocent Americans are brutally killed in places where safety should be sacred.
“The perpetrators of such vile acts must be held accountable by our courts. But decisive, courageous policy action is required on the part of our lawmakers so that we can put an end to this macabre cycle of butchery. I call upon our lawmakers to pass meaningful gun safety legislation and to close loopholes that enable firearms to pass into the wrong hands. And I support efforts to increase the availability and responsiveness of mental health programming in our communities.
Our children deserve to be safe from gun violence in school. We deserve to be safe from gun violence in our communities. We deserve action, and we deserve it now.”
