PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued the following statement after more than 26 people were killed and injured in a mass-shooting inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas:

“Our hearts break for Sutherland Springs, for the victims as young as five, to the families that were peacefully worshipping together when the gunman indiscriminately opened fire.  

“Thoughts and prayers are not enough.  We can’t grow numb to these mass-shootings, and we can’t just throw up our hands and say nothing can be done.

“Congress can act, if it summons the moral courage and bipartisan wisdom, and take simple steps to make gun background checks stronger, close loopholes to prevent terrorists from acquiring firearms, and block the interstate pipeline of illegal guns.  It is long past time for Congress to take meaningful action.

“Congress can and must do more to help prevent these types of mass-shootings from recurring.”