Rep. Chu Mourns the Shooting Death of 4-Year-Old Salvador Esparza on House Floor

On Tuesday night, four-year-old Salvador Esparza was shot and killed outside of his home in Altadena.

Thursday, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), who represents Altadena and Pasadena, spoke about Salvador on the House Floor and called for action on gun violence to prevent future deaths. Rep. Chu’s remarks are below:

“Yesterday morning, I woke up to the news that, overnight, a 4-year-old boy in my district in Altadena, CA became one of the latest victims of gun violence. Salvador Esparza was sitting on his front porch with a family friend when a car drove up, fired at least 13 rounds, and drove off, leaving two bodies. Hours later, we finally heard the tragic news: little Salvador was dead. I was heartbroken.

“Now, I know that the doctors did everything they could do to save his life. But what are we doing? Nothing! Another life cut short, another family torn apart, another day of silence from Congress.

“The NRA tells us the solution is more guns. Well we already have more guns than any other country in the world and it’s not working. Having more guns would not have helped four-year-old Salvador. But we could have.

“Enough is enough. We must pass No Fly, No Buy, and we must pass universal background checks.”

A video of Rep. Chu’s floor speech can also be found here.