WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yet another tragic and senseless loss of
life from gun violence occurred on May 18 when 10 individuals were shot and killed at
Santa Fe High School located in Santa Fe, Texas. Eight of the 10
fatalities were students – another 10 individuals were wounded.
This is the 22nd school shooting this year, according to CNN, and the 101st mass shooting in 2018, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Given that a mass shooting is
defined as four or more people being shot in a single incident, more than
400 Americans have been victims of a mass shooting so far this year.
It goes without saying that we as a nation cannot allow gun-related occurrences
to continue to take the lives of school children and others.
The National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) stands by our previous statements that
call for declaring all forms of gun violence - including mass
shootings - to be declared a public health epidemic.
Accordingly,
we continue to urge public health officials to mobilize federal and state
resources to prevent gun violence. NASW also continues to implore politicians
to enact reasonable and effective gun laws, which would greatly reduce gun-related
fatalities and injuries.
NASW wishes to convey our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of
the victims and everyone in the Santa Fe community. We join the many other
organizations and individual Americans in insisting that talk alone is not
enough to address the issue of gun violence in our communities and schools. We
all must be relentless in advocating for sensible gun reforms. Such reforms
must become a priority among politicians, public health officials and policy
makers.