Florida Democrat says Kansas City shooting ‘horrific,’ but especially so on sixth anniversary of Parkland

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), an outspoken voice against gun violence, said the Kansas City, Mo., shooting, which took place on the sixth anniversary of the school shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in his state, was “horrific.”

“I mean this is just a horrific event, and it is exclusively, only, in this country. A lot of countries have mental health issues, but for some reason in this country you know, we have no will to try to limit this. It’s ‘thoughts and prayers,’ and then we move on,” Moskowitz said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

“And just it’s — it’s horrific to see in general, but obviously horrific, even more so to see on the sixth anniversary of the shooting at Parkland,” he said.

A mass shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade killed at least one person and left more than 20 injured Wednesday. Local police said three people are in custody so far in connection with the shooting.

Moskowitz, who represents Parkland and attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas, said he does not celebrate Valentine’s Day anymore after the shooting at his alma mater six years ago.

“Now there are going to be other families on Valentine’s Day that will forever remember their Valentine’s Day and won’t celebrate anymore either, because now we’re going to add more families to a list that — of an exclusive club of families that no one wants to belong to,” he said.

He also called for Congress to look to his state for efforts at curtailing gun violence, when asked what more can be done.

“Repeat what we did in Florida six years ago, after the shooting. Within three weeks, we passed what was called the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety bill — we put hundreds of millions of dollars into mental health and to school resource officers and to school safety, but we also raised the age to 21 to buy a gun. We did three-day waiting periods, and we did red flag laws,” he said.

Other lawmakers issued similar statements condemning the shooting Wednesday, the anniversary of the Parkland shooting. President Biden also released a statement about the shooting and reiterated his push for gun control legislation.

“Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. What are we waiting for? What else do we need to see? How many more families need to be torn apart?” Biden said.

“It is time to act. That’s where I stand. And I ask the country to stand with me,” he continued. “To make your voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.”