Randi Weingarten AFT President | American Federation of Teachers
Two children were killed and more than a dozen injured in a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, prompting responses from national education leaders. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and Abbey Clements, executive director of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence and survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, issued a joint statement following the incident.
“Our hearts are broken for the Annunciation community and for the families who sent their children to school Wednesday morning expecting them to be safe and to come home. Every parent’s nightmare is to have their child’s future stolen by a bullet.
“We mourn for those who were killed, injured or traumatized by yet another devastating mass shooting.
“How tragic that this country’s leaders refuse to come together and make decisions to protect children and teens from their leading cause of death: firearms. What kind of a country allows kids to be shot up in their schools, over and over again?
“We cannot turn away from this horror. We must turn our empathy into action.
“We have a moral responsibility to protect our children. We must get guns out of the hands of those who would do harm in our schools, our places of worship, our workplaces, our streets, our homes.
“This should not be political. Schools should be safe havens for students to learn, make friends and build futures—not places for them to be traumatized or have their lives cut short by gun violence.”
The AFT is among several organizations calling on lawmakers and communities nationwide to address gun violence affecting students in educational settings.
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