"Yesterday’s school shooting in Red Lake, Minnesota was horrific, incredibly saddening and will mark so many people with grief that will never end – but it should not be a shock," continued Pelosi. "We are nearly six years removed from the Columbine school massacre, and virtually nothing has been done in this country since then to avoid similar disasters. So, it is not surprising when these avoidable events happen again and again and people die, as occurred yesterday in Red Lake. And, unless we as a nation recognize that ‘It’s about the guns,’ we can be absolutely certain that more such massacres will occur."

Rebecca Thoman, Executive Director of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota, that state’s leading gun violence prevention organization said: "Unfortunately, we Americans haven't learned the lessons of Columbine and other mass school shootings. We continue to arm our homes with the misguided notion that guns will protect us and our families. The sad reality is just the opposite. A gun in the home is a risk to those we love."

"Whenever a child uses a gun to kill, we have to ask: Where did he get the gun?" said Thoman. "EIGHTY PERCENT of the time the answer is from his own home or the home of a family member or friend." News reports suggest that the Red Lake shooter used a shotgun and two handguns owned by his grandfather, who was also shot and killed.