Newtown Action Alliance Responds to Midtown Manhattan Mass Shooting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2025
Contact:
John Kelley
917-679-6475
jkelley@newtownaction.org
Newtown Action Alliance Responds to Midtown Manhattan Mass Shooting
Demands Immediate Passage of Assault Weapons Ban
Urges the Investment Community to Avoid Funding Gun Stocks
Newtown, CT — The Newtown Action Alliance is heartbroken and outraged by the deadly mass shooting that occurred Monday evening at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan—a high-security office tower that houses major corporate tenants, including the National Football League (NFL) and global investment firm Blackstone.
The 27-year-old gunman, who had a history of mental illness, drove from Las Vegas to New York - was dressed in body armor and armed with an M4/AR-15 assault rifle when he stormed the building. He opened fire in the lobby and continued his rampage to the 33rd floor, killing four victims—including off-duty NYPD Officer Didarul Islam—and injuring others before taking his own life. A note found in his pocket claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and requested that his brain be studied.
Statement from Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance
"This horrifying shooting in Midtown Manhattan makes one thing abundantly clear: assault weapons have no place in our communities—no matter how rich, powerful, or secure they may seem. This mass shooting occurred in one of the most heavily policed cities in America, inside a building with multiple layers of security—yet it could not stop a man wielding a weapon of war.
A gunman armed with an M4-style assault rifle and wearing body armor walked into the same office building as the NFL and Blackstone—two of the most high-profile institutions in the country—and committed a massacre. If this can happen in the heart of Manhattan, it can happen anywhere. The illusion of safety means nothing when more than 23% of all guns manufactured in the U.S. are AR-15s.
The shooter may have written a suicide note warning “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you" but the truth is this: it’s the government that has been squashed—by the gun lobby. While children are hunted and executed in their classrooms, shoppers are gunned down in stores, and now professionals are murdered in a Midtown skyscraper, Congress has done nothing to remove AR-15s and similar weapons from the civilian market. This mass shooting incident could have been prevented if Congress passed the Assault Weapons Ban legislation after my neighbor killed 20 children and six educators in Sandy Hook in 2012.
We are past thoughts and prayers. We are past outrage. Empathy without action is indifference. It is time for Congress to finally pass a full federal ban on assault weapons and block the gun lobby’s #1 priority bill - Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow individuals without permits, background checks, or training to carry guns across state lines. No more loopholes. No more cowardice. We cannot wait for another mass shooting to finally act. Lives are on the line—and the bloodshed will not end until we stop weapons of war from flooding our streets and homes while lining the pockets of gun industry executives.
We also strongly urge all investors including banks and investment firms to avoid funding AR-15 deaths and destruction by buying gun industry stocks - like Donald Trump Jr’s GrabAGun stock that is traded under the ticker “PEW”.
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Newtown Action Alliance (http://alliance.newtownaction.org/) is a Newtown-based, national grassroots organization formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Our mission is to achieve the steady and continuous reduction of gun violence through legislative and cultural changes.