After two mass shootings occurred in the U.S. in less than 24 hours, local officials and legislators reacted to the recent events.

“Any kind of gun violence is a sad day for America. We have a great country built on freedom, but sometimes those freedoms cause pain. It’s hard to figure out the balance between what our rights and our protections are. This is an issue that any elected official, from a council member to a mayor, all the way to the president is trying to come up with an answer to. Our hearts go out to the victims. This is something our country really needs to think about.” -Fort Dodge Mayor Matt Bemrich

“First of all, my family, my husband and I have nothing but sympathy for the victims. It’s terrible to lose a loved one in any fashion. But to lose someone in this way, our heart goes out them. Everyone needs to work together to find a solution to stop the violence in every community. We have to come together, and I am open to any solutions to help keep everyone safe. We are keeping those families in our prayers.” -State Rep. Ann Meyer, of Fort Dodge

“Obviously, it’s devastating for the country. It’s an ongoing problem that I’m not sure how we will address it. I don’t know if we can legislate it the right way. Mental health issues are going unaddressed and that contributes to the problem. But it starts with the family. Maybe they are lacking the guidance they need at an early age, but it’s hard to predict what the root cause of these tragedies are.” -Fort Dodge City Councilman Terry Moehnke

“It’s a terrible thing. My heart goes out to the families of those who are affected.” -State Rep. Mike Sexton, of Rockwell City

“Mental health plays a major role in a lot of these shootings and we talk about mental health and we try to move forward with mental health, but it obviously plays a big role in events like this. Someone who is stable wouldn’t think of doing something like that. Locally, we need to invest in it (mental health.) We have our fair share of committals in our county and throughout the state, and to do the hold and put them back, I don’t know if that’s solving the problems for people who suffer from mental illness. There is a big stigma with that, that we need to address the issue and be compassionate and try to get the most help for anyone who suffers. It’s a quality of life issue for anyone in the county and the state for that matter.” -Webster County Sheriff Jim Stubbs

“Anytime that there is a mass shooting in the news it makes me incredibly sad because I feel like there isn’t respect for life when that happens. And I don’t want my kids growing up in a world where these shootings keep showing up in the news and they get desensitized to hearing about them. I just hope that my kids don’t reach that point. That scares me, that this is becoming a normal thing for them to hear about in our world and I don’t like that.”

-Fort Dodge City Councilwoman Lydia Schuur