BOISE, Idaho — After the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and Rep. Mike Simpson issued statements.
Little and McLean each have children of their own and spoke from their perspectives as both Idaho leaders and parents.
"I just spent time with some local high school students, hearing their pleas for action on common-sense gun laws, and marking moments of silence for each of the 21 people killed in Texas," McLean said in her statement. "Nineteen young children were killed in their classroom. I cannot imagine the horror and pain their families are going through right now, though as a mom, I can feel in my gut the depths of trauma that they will forever feel."
McLean shared an experience she had with her son after learning about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting that happened nearly ten years ago.
"On my son's 9th birthday, shortly after learning that children younger than him had been violently killed at Sandy Hook, I walked into Longfellow School to celebrate his birthday and hear his class sing Christmas songs; I remember vividly the sense of horror I felt imagining the same happening there, at that moment. Yesterday as we prepared for his graduation party, I learned that this had happened again. In the intervening decade, we've owed their parents – and our kids – significant action, common-sense gun laws. Yet as my child and his peers graduate from high school, still nothing has been done. The list of victims to whom we owe action continues to grow."
Gov. Little is also a grandfather to school-aged children and said he found the news "heartbreaking" and ordered that flags be lowered to half staff until sunset on Saturday.
"If anyone can take comfort in my prayers, know that I am offering them. But these parents in Uvalde, and every community in this country, are owed action." the mayor said in her statement, "the vast majority of Boiseans and Americans want reform that would encourage responsible gun ownership and keep weapons of war out of the hands of people who would walk into an elementary school and murder almost two dozen children."
Mayor McLean's statement ended by saying: "We can do it. We must do it. It's time to pay our debt to help keep our children safe."
On Thursday, Rep. Simpson posted a statement on the Uvalde, Texas shooting on Twitter:
"The massacre in Texas has once again rocked our nation to its core. This is not an acceptable status quo and we must do better for our children. Kathy and I are praying for our country and especially for the families who are living the unimaginable," Simpson wrote. "Hate and division are too present in our country, and elected leaders must set an example by coming together to find meaningful solutions that addresses the clear mental health crisis in this country."
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