It’s been six years since the Pulse Nightclub shooting massacre in Orlando

It’s been six years since the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, a venue for the LGBTQ+ and Hispanic community. The tragedy left 49 innocent victims dead in one of the deadliest attacks in our nation’s history.

Since then, not much has changed when it comes to gun violence in America:

Just last month, 19 students and two teachers were gunned down at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Ten Black people died at the hands of an 18-year-old White supremacist at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. And in Florida in 2018, 17 students and staff members were killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, in Broward County.

The Pulse Nightclub tragedy occurred on June 12, 2016. U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida filed a resolution recognizing the 49 lives lost. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously.

In a press release, Rubio offered these words: “It was a tragic, despicable terrorist attack on the Hispanic and gay communities in Orlando. Each person killed was a son or daughter, brother or sister, mother or father, husband or wife; They were part of our families and communities. But ultimately, that hateful ideology failed to tear apart our community.”

The U.S. House Wednesday night passed a 223-204 package of eight bills relating to gun control. But they are unlikely to advance to a final vote in the divided Senate.

A six-year Pulse Remembrance Ceremony in Orlando on Sunday will be hosted by the onePULSE Foundation.

The U.S. Senate resolution can be seen here.

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Imani Thomas reporting via Florida Phoenix.

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