Statement on the Shootings in Dadeville, Alabama, and Louisville, Kentucky

This morning our Nation is once again grieving for at least four Americans tragically killed at a teen's birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, as well as two others killed last night in a crowded public park in Louisville. Jill and I are praying for their families, and for the many others injured and fighting for their lives in the wake of this weekend's gun violence.

What has our Nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park? Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising, not declining.

This is outrageous and unacceptable. Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms. Instead, this past week Americans saw national Republican elected leaders stand alongside the NRA in a race to the bottom on dangerous laws that further erode gun safety. Our communities need and deserve better.

I commend Tennessee Governor Bill Lee for signing an executive order to expand background checks and calling on the Tennessee statehouse to pass a "red flag" law. I hope more Republican officials will follow suit and take action.

I stand ready, as I always have been, to work across the aisle in good faith on Federal legislation that will save lives. It is within Congress' power to require safe storage of firearms, require background checks for all gun sales, eliminate gun manufacturers' immunity from liability, and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and this should happen without delay.