On Pulse Nightclub Shooting Anniversary, Rep. Frost (D-FL) and Guns Down Down America Continue Push for New Legislative to End Gun Violence

June 12, 2024

WASHINGTON - Ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, Guns Down America Executive Director Hudson Munoz and Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost released the following statements.

Hudson Munoz, Executive Director of Guns Down America: “Amassing an arsenal is expensive, which is why mass shooters turn to credit cards. The Pulse Nightclub shooter’s sudden surge in spending—nearly $20,000 on guns and ammunition using Mastercard, American Express, and Visa—should have triggered alarms for his bank. He even googled ‘why banks stop your purchases.’ His concerns were unfounded. His purchases went through. Forty-nine lives were lost, 53 others were wounded, and an entire community scarred for life. And it could have been detected and deterred. Right now, gun stores are exempt from the financial industry's most basic fraud prevention and reporting system. Guns Down America’s report, The Gun Store Exception, underscores the need for federal legislation like the Identify Gun Stores Act, introduced by Rep. Frost to harmonize state and federal monitoring of gun store transactions to help identify suspicious gun violence-related purchasing patterns.”

Rep. Frost (D-FL): “Today my heart is heavy as our Orlando community is brought back to the moment in history where 49 angels were murdered in cold blood at Pulse Nightclub. And I am angry that we continue to live in a world where gun violence can drastically change or end your life, and that too many leaders do not want to do a single thing about it. Had the Identify Gun Stores Act been law, this four-digit code could have saved lives in Pulse and identified concerning purchasing patterns, giving us the opportunity to inform law enforcement before the shooting happened. The 49 lives lost in Pulse deserve for their memories to be honored with action, not just thoughts and prayers.”

Click here to read the Gun Store Exception report that explored the impact of payment processors on gun violence.