The debate on gun safety rages on in the wake of multiple mass shootings across the nation over the past few weeks. Former State Rep Melissa Flournoy, an adjunct professor at LSU and chair of the organization 10,0000 Women Louisiana says unless we make some major changes, the next senseless tragedy is inevitable.
“Yesterday was the one-month anniversary of Buffalo and the shooting at the grocery store,” she said. “And so, it’s just a matter of time for the next shooting with a military-style weapon.”
Last week Flournoy, on behalf of 10-thousand Women Louisiana and more than 300 other gun safety activists, sent a letter to Laurie Lipsey Aronson, CEO of Lipsey’s, one of the largest firearms wholesalers in the country and a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, asking that she stop the distribution of automatic and assault-style, semi-automatic weapons to the public.
“She’s really in the same position as the folks at Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods when they decided not to sell AR-15s in their retail outlets,” said Flournoy.
That letter now has more than 1100 signatures and is aiming to get more than 5000 this week. Flournoy says Aronson has acknowledged receipt of the letter but has yet to make a statement. In a tragic coincidence, the gun used in Uvalde, Texas was purchased from one of Lipsey’s distributors. Flournoy says she isn’t looking for a total gun ban but wants to see the firearms industry be a part of the solution to gun violence.
“We have a very, very narrow ask,” Flournoy said. “Which is, you know, you can choose to not sell automatic and semi-automatic, assault-style weapons.”
To add your name to the letter, you can visit 10000womenla.org.
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