An Arizona lawmaker yesterday said in a statement given to a Phoenix journalist that Arizona "has been fortunate not to experience a major mass shooting," the Arizona Republic reports.Β
"While Arizona has been fortunate not to experience a major mass shooting, that shouldn't stop us from considering measures to prevent a tragedy like we saw over the weekend in Texas and Ohio," Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers said in the statement given to CBS 5 journalist Dennis Welch.
In January 2011, six people were killed and 13 were injured in a shooting outside a Tucson Safeway. Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was among those injured.
Nine people were also shot and killed in 1991 atΒ Wat Promkunaram, a Buddhist temple in Waddell, Arizona.
"Any law we pass will have to preserve the rights afforded to law-abiding Americans by the 2nd Amendment, but we certainly need to explore ways to keep guns out of the hands of domestic terrorists and the mentally ill," the initial statement continues. "I expect my colleagues will introduce a wide range of bills next year designed to prevent mass shootings, and I look forward to discussion and consideration of them."
Bowers' office later told Welch that "Speaker Bowers erred in not classifying the 2011 Tucson shooting as a major mass shooting, but that doesn't change his message that there is work the Legislature can do to prevent major shootings like that from occurring again."
At least 31 people were killed, and dozens more injured, in last weekend's mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
