Here’s what Pa. members of Congress have said about the Texas school shooting

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed and several other children were shot and injured in a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.

It was the second-deadliest school shooting recorded in U.S. history after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and it was the deadliest school shooting since the 2018 attack that killed 17 in Parkland, Fla. It was the 27th school shooting in 2022, according to Education Week, which tracks them.

» READ MORE: Gunman kills 19 children, 2 adults in Texas school rampage

Some Pennsylvania Democrats called for action to prevent future school shootings, including urging Republican senators to vote for the background-check bill passed in 2021 by the U.S. House, known as H.R. 8. Some Pennsylvania Republicans called it heartbreaking or devastating but made no calls for action in their tweets, with the exception of Bucks County’s Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who has supported anti-violence legislation and called for a solution Wednesday.

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Of Pennsylvania’s 18 U.S. House members, Democrat Conor Lamb and Republicans Lloyd Smucker, Guy Reschenthaler, and Glenn Thompson did not appear to have made public statements or tweeted by Wednesday evening. Their offices had not responded to requests for comment.

Casey also spoke on the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon, where he slammed his Republican colleagues for a lack of action on gun safety legislation and invoked the reactions to Sept. 11 and World War Two.

Toomey also held a call with reporters Wednesday afternoon in which he said he has been “having discussions” with individual senators in hopes of advancing gun legislation that “actually has a chance of passing.” He didn’t provide specifics about whom he’s spoken with or what type of legislation. Toomey and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin led bipartisan background-check efforts, which ultimately failed to pass, after Sandy Hook, and Toomey has attempted to persuade colleagues at various points since then.

“The past 24 hours have been extremely difficult for the citizens of Uvalde, Texas. You can never truly adjust to the loss of a loved one’s life that has ended too soon,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement to The Inquirer on Wednesday. “My prayers are with the families of those who died, and I hope that we can work together as a country to find a solution that protects our children and citizens from the evils of unnecessary violence. I have previously cosponsored bipartisan pieces of legislation to directly address the violence we are seeing in our country,” including legislation to establish background checks, raise the age for purchasing a semiautomatic rifle to 21, and establish gun violence restraining orders.

“Today’s shooting at an elementary school leaves yet another community ripped apart by gun violence. This horror perpetrated on our children, our families, and our nation must stop,” Boyle said in a statement Tuesday night. “There is overwhelming bipartisan support across the country for legislative action to prevent gun violence. It’s time for some of my colleagues who have been too afraid to take on the NRA to finally summon the courage to do the right thing — before another horrific tragedy takes place.”

“In these United States of America, no child should be afraid to go to school. No senior citizen should be afraid to go to the grocery store. No American should be afraid to go to a concert, their place of worship, a nightclub or a shopping mall,” Cartwright said in a statement posted to Facebook. “Democrats and Republicans need to stand together and come up with a commonsense approach to gun legislation to keep our communities safe and prevent the senseless and heartbreaking tragedies that are becoming the norm.”

“We need to start treating gun violence as the deadly public health crisis it is.”

“As Americans, we come together to mourn the horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. The heartbreaking loss of these innocent young students and their teachers is unconscionable. We pray for the families of these children and teachers, and for their community, as well as extend our gratitude to the brave law enforcement officers who heroically ran towards to gunfire and saved countless innocent lives,” Meuser said in a statement to The Inquirer late Wednesday afternoon. “As a member of Congress, I will continue to support our constitution and solutions that provide law enforcement the necessary resources to prevent such murderous acts from occurring.”

Correction: A previous version of this article failed to include a statement from Rep. Matt Cartwright, who responded to the shooting on Facebook Wednesday.