Like many Americans, I am sad and angry in equal measure today -- as I have been so many times in past years as mass shooters time and again rip away our loved ones and steal our sense of safety.

This weekend, it happened again in our state. El Paso, one of our oldest cities and a welcoming and diverse place full of good people, was attacked by a hate-filled, racist person whose mission was to instill terror. But El Paso is strong. And it will overcome.

This attack, like so many others, was fueled by white supremacist ideology. I took an oath to protect against threats both foreign and domestic, so I want to be crystal clear: we must mobilize against this epidemic of domestic terrorism. Our elected leaders who amplify white nationalist rhetoric and racist dog whistles need to take ownership of the impact of their words and reverse course immediately.

When radicalized white supremacists have easy access to military-grade weapons of war at their fingertips, their ability to inflict death and destruction goes unchecked. And when career politicians like my opponent Senator Cornyn say that there are some issues "we simply don't have all the answers" to, it turns my grief into anger. We DO have answers. What we don't have are enough leaders with the courage to defy their donors and party leaders to ACT. Twenty-two people lying dead because of a massacre in one of our Texas cities is a problem we MUST solve.

I'm sure Senator Cornyn's refusal to address the commonly discussed and widely popular solutions to this epidemic threatening our children makes the NRA satisfied that they've gotten their money's worth for the $78,945 they've spent to support him. But there are logical steps we can take that would protect our children and communities and the rights of responsible gun owners.

Texans expect and deserve better than their senator passing the buck, and it's time to demand it. If he truly cares, John Cornyn should get back to DC now and work to pass H.R. 8 -- the bill establishing universal background checks -- which is sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk in the legislative graveyard of the Senate.

We must honor the memories of the victims we lost in El Paso, Dayton, and all the other cities, schools, and festivals whose names have become synonymous with massacres. We should do so by saying enough is enough. Our elected representatives must finally take action to fix this. And we must refuse to reelect those who won't.

If you can, please donate to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, which is working to support the victims and their families in El Paso.

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Enough is enough.

-- MJ Hegar










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MJ Hegar was a member of the US Air Force and the Air National Guard. Use of her military rank, job, titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement from the Department of Defense, Air Force, or Air National Guard.

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