Sikh community demands gun reforms after FedEx shooting
Members of Indianapolis' tight-knit Sikh community joined with city officials to demand gun reforms Saturday because they mourned the deaths of four Sikhs who were among the eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse.
At a vigil attended by more than 200 at an Indianapolis park Saturday evening, Aasees Kaur, who represented the Sikh Coalition, spoke out alongside the city's mayor and other elected officials to demand action that could prevent such attacks from happening again. "We must support one another, not simply in grief, but in calling our policymakers and elected officials to create meaningful change," Kaur said. "Enough time to act isn't later, however now. We are too many tragedies, too late, in doing so."
The attack was another blow to the Asian American community a month after authorities said six people of Asian descent were killed by a gunman in the Atlanta area and amid ongoing attacks against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. About 90% of the personnel at the FedEx warehouse near to the Indianapolis International Airport.
are members of the neighborhood Sikh community, police said Friday.
Kiran Deol, who attended the vigil to get family members influenced by the shooting, said loopholes in the law that make it easier for individuals to get guns "need to be closed now," and emphasized that anyone who tries to get a firearm ought to be necessary to have their background checked.
"The gun violence is unacceptable. Look at what's happened ... it needs to be stopped," Deol said. "We are looking for more reform. We are in need of gun laws to be harder, stronger, so that responsible people will be the ones which may have guns. That's what we want to bring awareness to."
Satjeet Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's executive director, said the complete community was traumatized by the "senseless" violence.
