John,

By now you’ve likely heard about the carnage that unfolded in Allen, Texas on Saturday last weekend. At least eight people were killed and several others were injured in a mass shooting at an outdoor outlet mall. Some of the victims were children. A six-year-old lost his parents and baby brother in the same shooting. This can’t continue to happen in America, but it does, because of the cowardice of my Republican colleagues in Congress and the pervasive influence of the NRA gun lobby.

Republican lawmakers in Texas and across the country have a responsibility to the communities they represent to curb the carnage. Those who have fought against our efforts to reign in gun violence in this country must reckon with the consequences of their refusal to act. 

We must continue to call them out and hold them accountable after every single mass shooting that makes headlines, and after every single mass shooting that doesn’t.

In 2023, there have been 208 mass shootings in America in the first 128 days of the year.

The consequences of failed “compromises” on gun control and a lack of federal reforms have made it easy for these mass shootings to occur.

We do not have to live like this.

I’ve said it countless times before, and it’s still true today: these events are preventable. There’s a reason this doesn’t happen in other parts of the world. It’s past time for us to put aside our extremist gun culture and focus on keeping our children and our communities safe.

We cannot allow ourselves to grow numb to these tragedies that unfold every week. Every single victim had a life to live with people who loved them. They deserved better. We all deserve better.

John, I’m sick and tired of writing these kinds of emails after mass shootings occur.

But I won’t stop calling attention to it until meaningful action is taken. My only hope is that Republicans and the extremist gun lobbies that back them will reflect on the state of gun violence in America and come to the same conclusion that the vast majority of Americans have – enough is enough.

Thanks for reading,

Lucy McBath