Dear John,

Eleven years ago today, twelve people were shot and another seventy injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. At the time, this was one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history, but as we’ve seen the unthinkable happen again and again, we’re only reminded of how little progress has been made to end this epidemic of gun violence.

I grieve today with the families and friends who have lost their loved ones in this senseless act of gun violence. I know the pain they feel all too well.

In 2012, when my son Jordan was stolen from me in a senseless act of gun violence, I made a promise to fight. To fight for the future my son and countless others never got the chance to have, to fight for a world where people don’t worry about whether this day will be their last when they go to the movie theater or to school, to fight for a world where no parent has to experience the pain of a child taken too soon by gun violence. I will not give up my fight until this epidemic of gun violence is over.

Eleven years. Eleven years later we’re still experiencing the same tragedies, the same “thoughts and prayers” response my NRA-backed colleagues say in place of any substantive action. Republicans have continued again and again to block common-sense gun safety protections that could stop these preventable mass shootings, but we cannot give up. We must continue to demand action until it is achieved.

Tonight, I’ll hold those lost in the Aurora shooting in my heart. I grieve with you and with every other person who has lost someone to gun violence. We all deserve better.

With love,

Lucy