Pulse nightclub shooting 6th anniversary: Survivors rue no progress on gun control

On June 12, 2016, a 29-year-old gunman named Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and injuring over 50 others in what is deemed one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Six years later, no meaningful federal gun law reform has been passed, leaving the survivors angry and disappointed. 

“It is incredibly disappointing. It is triggering and it is infuriating that we have to continue living like this,” Ricardo Negron told the Guardian.

“When I see mass shootings, in particular, and any gun violence, it always hits a point of hurt and sadness. I’m reminded that we’re still in the same place that we were before, of hoping that we could see a change with policy.”

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He said that the Uvalde school shooting in May, where 19 children were killed, stoked fears that incidents like this could happen at his nephews’ schools.

“With all the collective trauma that we’ve experienced as a country with Covid and consistent violence on communities, I think that we should really restrict access to powerful weapons of war.”

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Patience Murray, who was also at the nightclub at the time of the shooting, told the Guardian, “We’ve had so many survivors, so many families that have been left behind and they tell their story. And they’re vulnerable, pouring their hearts out to these leaders, and then nothing happens.”

“When I see mass shootings, in particular, and any gun violence, it always hits a point of hurt and sadness. I’m reminded that we’re still in the same place that we were before, of hoping that we could see a change with policy.”

“[It’s] time to make a decision and to choose something. We’re no longer just looking for the hoopla. We’re no longer just looking for the headlines of what we think could happen. We actually want to see real decisions being made.”