Ben Cardin: “as our Nation celebrated on July 4th, our birthday, with festive block parties, in one example in Baltimore, it turned…”

“as our Nation celebrated on July 4th, our birthday, with festive block parties, in one example in Baltimore, it turned into tragic gun violence in our own backyards and across the country. It has been a deadly summer so far, and we have only made it to the middle of July. In my home State of Maryland, in Salisbury, 14-year-old Xavier Cordei Maddox was killed and six others injured during an overnight July 4th block party. It came just after a horrific mass shooting on July 1st at an annual block party in the South Baltimore Brooklyn neighborhood, which claimed the lives of a young man and a young woman, while injuring 28 others, many of whom are teenagers. Twenty-year-old Kylis Fagbemi died at an area hospital, and 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene. Just weeks before the shooting, Gonzalez graduated from Glen Burnie High School in Anne Arundel County. Gonzalez had recently decided to enroll at Anne Arundel Community College to stay closer to her family, according to news reports. Now she is dead. I joined Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott in a visit to the Brooklyn neighborhood on Independence Day. As I said at that time, this is a dark moment for our community and our country. People who shouldn't have guns have guns, and they are causing irreversible harm. Public safety always must be our top priority. Sympathy and words are not enough.…”