We do not have to live like this. The extreme gun violence we experience in America is a choice that the 271 Republicans in Congress are making. They are holding our country hostage.   Dear John, Call me an originalist, but when our country's framers wrote the Second Amendment of our Constitution in 1791, I truly do not believe their intention was to protect individuals' right to easily accessible guns for the purpose of killing and terrorizing our own communities. During the 4th of July holiday weekend, while we gathered with neighbors, family, and friends to celebrate 247 years of the United States of America, we received alert after alert after alert on our phones as 26 mass shootings across the country unfolded. By Wednesday, 14 people had been killed and another 50 people remained injured. We do not have to live like this. The extreme gun violence we experience in America is a choice that the 271 Republicans in Congress are making. They are holding our country hostage. With common-sense gun laws, including expanded background checks, red flag laws, and a ban on assault rifles, we will change the story of guns in this country. We will protect our Black community members, who make up 61% of all gun-related deaths. We will protect our children, who now are more likely to be killed by gun violence than in a car accident, and who experience the majority of accidental gun discharge deaths. We will protect women, who, when experiencing domestic violence, are five times more likely to be killed if their abuser owns a gun. We will protect our AAPI community, whose rate of gun death growth has outpaced the national rate 34% to 10%, influenced by the increase in anti-Asian hate’s impact to violence against AAPI communities and to the toll of mental health among AAPI groups, leading to an increase in self-inflicted gun deaths. I am introducing legislation to improve our red flag laws, and have co-sponsored legislation that would raise the age for legal firearm purchase to 21, increase firearm safe storage requirements in residences with minors present, and ban assault weapons. I will not stop working to pass and expand gun reform until every person in this country can live their lives without the daily fear and threat of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Judy Judy Chu | AMB Consulting, 1531 Purdue Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!