Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization, condemned Alabama Republican lawmakers in a recent statement, saying they “ignore the number one killer of Alabama children,” gun violence.

The news release came after a mass shooting in Dadeville over the weekend, where four people were killed and 32 were injured. Most of the victims, as well as the shooters, were teenagers and young adults.

“How the hell can Alabamans [sic] count on their leaders to fix a problem if they refuse to see it?” said Chris Harris, Giffords’ vice president of communications. “Gun violence kills twice as many Alabama children as cancer and the state’s leaders are MIA. While they may not want to talk about it, the issue is not going away. More kids will die until Alabama leaders decide enough is enough.”

The advocacy organization, which was founded by former Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head in 2011, specifically addressed Gov. Kay Ivey, Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt and Rep. Mike Rogers.

“Following the weekend’s mass shooting at a teen birthday party in Dadeville, which killed four and injured 32, all four officials chose not to send a press release or full statement,” the release stated.

The lawmakers issued statements on social media after the Dadeville shooting. None of their comments mentioned guns.

Gov. Ivey tweeted “violent crime has no place in Alabama and what happened in Dadeville was horrific.”

The other three lawmakers tweeted about the “heartbreaking news” and said their prayers are with the community.

Alabama had the fourth highest death rate by firearm for all age groups in 2021, behind only Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico, respectively, according to the CDC.

Guns are now the leading cause of death among children in Alabama. Traffic accidents had been the leading cause of death for children aged 1-17 prior to 2021, when the number of deaths by firearms more than doubled in the state.

The jump corresponds with a “record breaking” increase in gun sales in 2020 in Alabama and nationwide. According to a study by safehomes.org, which analyzed 20 years of gun sales in each state using data from law enforcement agencies, 619,000 firearms were sold in Alabama in 2020 – the third most per capita of any state in the country. The state also saw a 4% increase in gun-related deaths between 2019 and 2020.

Since 2014, 520 children in Alabama have been killed by gun violence and 1060 have been injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

“There are common sense solutions out there that respect the Second Amendment by ensuring bad actors don’t exploit it to harm others,” Harris said. “Being tough on crime means stopping gun violence before it happens. Voters want Alabama leaders to do something—and that starts with acknowledging the problem.”

After the Dadeville shooting, state Democratic legislators gathered outside a funeral home owned by one of the victim’s grandfather to call for immediate action to curb gun violence by enacting common sense legislation.

Some of the bills introduced in the 2023 session include legislation that would punish parents who don’t secure guns and allow their children to take them to school; exempt pistol permit owners from being allowed to carry firearms on school property; imprison people with felony records if they are caught with a gun; and require gun owners who have been issued a court-imposed gun violence protective order to relinquish their firearms for at least one year.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan has said she plans to introduce a bill this week to ban the sale of assault weapons to those under age 21.

“I will never be silent until Republicans recognize that the Second Amendment comes with responsibilities and limitations,” Givan said. “Until they do, the blood of these murdered children is on their hands.”

Giffords, which grades states based on their gun laws, has given Alabama an F, saying “the state lacks many basic gun safety laws and has not enacted meaningful gun safety legislation recently.”

Last year, the Alabama legislature passed a permitless carry law, making it legal to carry a concealed handgun into most public places without a permit.

When the bill was debated in the statehouse, sheriffs and police urged legislators to reject it, saying it would make it easier for the wrong people to possess a gun at a time when violent crime is rising in the state.

The gun violence prevention organization also claimed that Alabama has supplied guns used in crimes to other states at the 11th highest rate among the states, exporting guns at nearly twice the national rate and 2.5 times the rate at which it imported guns from other states.

Gov. Ivey’s office did not respond to a request for comment.