That this occurred at the conclusion of an event designed to celebrate families is particularly disheartening.
Children deserve to be safe.
Unfortunately, too often it takes a tragedy like this to force us to confront the serious issues. We need to address the core reasons that lead an individual to engage in such violence and we need to limit the easy accessibility of firearms. The ready availability of guns is a problem that crosses city and state lines. I am pleased to have joined with Cardinal Hickey and the other Catholic bishops in Maryland in supporting recent 'safe gun' legislation in that state. We need to continue to look at ways to make our streets safer from gun violence.