Dear John, As I took my spring walks earlier this year, I spent a lot of time thinking about perennials versus annuals. I’d pass the old, sweet, mulberry tree and grab a few juicy, black berries. Or a neighbor’s overflowing raspberry bushes, prickly and plain but yielding such a bountiful harvest of red berries. These plants that sometimes seem ordinary from afar, but are oh-so-fruitful close up, remind me of our remarkable state gun violence prevention leaders. They don’t bloom for just one, lively, colorful, expensive, season like annuals—they are here for the duration. Our grassroots, state-based leaders are perennials. Our amazing state leaders are sticking around day after day, year after year, making change happen. They are persistent and unrelenting in their charge to make our communities safer against the scourge of gun violence—and their labor is so fruitful despite the odds. When terrible weekends like this past one happen, I don’t despair because I know that our state leaders will carry on, doing the hard work that continues to bear outstanding fruit year after year. Thank you for standing with us, Karen Abrams, Interim Executive Director States United to Prevent Gun Violence Check out what your state is doing to end gun violence! | 