California's Acting Governor and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement on the shooting of seven police officers in Baton Rouge, La.
"On behalf of the State of California, Jennifer and I send our deepest condolences to the families of the fallen Baton Rouge officers, and to the residents of Louisiana."
Newsom continues by saying he is heartbroken and has ordered for the flags on California’s state capitol building to be lowered to half-staff, "again and this time in honor of the fallen officers of Baton Rouge."
"Only nine days ago, our state honored Dallas’ police officers with this same order," Newsom said. "To the fallen, their brave brothers and sisters who serve our communities valorously, and our nation, we owe deeds, not just words."
Newsom noted that while the facts surrounding this tragedy will emerge over the coming days, "there is one conclusion to which we must leap: enough is enough."
"An armed society is a dangerous society and we cannot accept the profit-driven fallacies promulgated by the firearms industry, its spokespeople at the National Rifle Association, and their paid subsidiaries," Newsom says. "The endemic of gun violence terrorizing our society - inflicted upon police officers, nightclub goers, places of work, churches, movie theaters, schools, and disproportionately upon and within America’s minority communities – is by definition a political issue and elected leaders must not back down from calling for tougher regulation of firearms and ammunition in fear of political retribution from these defendants of death.
"Enough is enough. I call again upon Congress to act immediately."
