NASA Administrator Bill Nelson added his voice Wednesday, May 25 to the chorus calling for action to prevent mass shootings.
In a Twitter thread (opens in a new tab)the former U.S. senator (D-Fla.) and former space shuttle astronaut said he felt a ‘heavyweight hit’ after news broke that at least 19 children and two adults died in a school shooting primary in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24.
Referring to similar recent mass deaths from gun violence, Nelson said Americans had been murdered “while shopping at a supermarket in Buffalo, while attending a Taiwanese Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods [California]and yesterday in a primary school in Uvalde.”
Last week, following the racist killings in Buffalo, which targeted black Americans, US President Joe Biden told mourners that “white supremacy will not have the final say”, according to MSNBC. (opens in a new tab).
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It is impossible not to feel the weight of recent events across our country – with Americans murdered while shopping in a Buffalo supermarket, while attending a Taiwanese Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods and yesterday in a primary school in Uvalde.May 25, 2022
“In every event lives have been tragically taken in the course of everyday life…we have seen far too many tragedies,” Nelson wrote in his thread about the shooting.
Nelson noted that Tuesday also marks the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in police custody on May 25, 2020 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, The Guardian wrote. (opens in a new tab) in 2021 after the officer was convicted of murder.
“We must act – for accountability, for justice. For change, for progress. For our children and our fellow Americans. It is long past time to say enough about the senseless killings,” Nelson wrote.
While Nelson did not cite any statistics in his discussion, Pew Research found that nearly 80% (opens in a new tab) murders in the United States are committed with the use of a firearm.
Nelson isn’t the only person in the space community pushing for action against gun violence in the wake of the Uvalde massacre.
For example, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk just approved tougher background checks on male shoppers. And former astronaut and current U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) posted a tweet on Tuesday stressing that the Uvalde shooting “demands a response.” Kelly’s wife, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), retired from politics after she was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with voters.
Many media sources have pointed to the divide between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to implementing gun control in Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), for example, should always be present (opens in a new tab) the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting on Friday, May 27 to speak, following a booking made long before the Texas school shooting.
In a interview broadcast on NBC (opens in a new tab) Late Tuesday, however, Cruz called the shooting “yet another unspeakable crime.”
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