John, so far in 2023, there have been more mass shootings than days in the year. We've just surpassed the devastating milestone of 200 mass shootings in our nation – and the year is only 186 days old. 

This cannot be how we live our lives.  

It is not normal for people in this country to be gunned down in grocery stores and movie theaters. It is not normal for parents to send their children off to school with the fear that one day they won't return. And it especially is not normal that Republicans are blocking all efforts to end this epidemic of gun violence.

We cannot carry on like this. That's why so many of my colleagues and I are calling for an assault weapons ban – and now I'm counting on you to echo our calls.

John, from Sandy Hook to Parkland to Uvalde, AR-15 style firearms are the weapon of choice for shooters looking to kill as many people as quickly as possible. They have absolutely no place in our communities, but banning these weapons despite the gun lobby's objections is going to require every last one of us. That’s why I have called for these weapons of war to be taken off the street for years — first in 2003, when the ban on assault weapons expired, then again in 2016 following the tragic Pulse shooting, again last year following the devastating shooting in Uvalde, and countless other times in between.

That's why I need at least 5,000 people to stand with me before midnight tonight and sign my petition to ban assault weapons, but I'm still missing your signature. So please: Will you add your name to my petition to call on Congress to ban assault weapons?

Thank you for helping to combat this crisis with me.

Barbara Lee