Every parent fears hearing these words:

“There’s been a mass shooting at your child’s school.”

That’s what I was told on February 14, 2018 when my beloved daughter Jaime was killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. No family should have to hear those words, let alone endure the loss that mine did.

Emily Busch never imagined she would run for office – and then there was a mass shooting at her son’s school in Oxford, Michigan, and he was forced to flee with his friends and teachers to safety. Thankfully, Emily’s son was able to escape, but four others died that day and seven were injured.

The Republican she’s up against—John James—has accepted nearly a quarter-million dollars from the NRA and Gun Lobby and is blocking any and all gun violence prevention bills.

Emily knows we deserve better than reps who vote against our families’ best interests because they’re being bankrolled by the NRA, so she decided to run against him. This is as close to a toss-up race as it gets - John James won by just 1600 votes last year - and I know Emily is the one who can win this seat back.

We need leaders like Emily in Congress who will fight every single day to keep our families safe from gun violence. So I’m asking if you’ll join me in supporting her by donating to her campaign. In a race like this, every dollar and vote could be decisive.

In the aftermath of the school shooting in Oxford, Michigan and prior to deciding to run for Congress, Emily was an on the ground organizer for gun safety reforms at the state level. She attended Board of Education meetings, testified before the state legislature, and organized discussions and panels with parents to discuss keeping Michigan kids safe from gun violence.

Despite the despair families like mine and so many others have faced as a result of gun violence, I remain hopeful.

I remain hopeful because everyday people like Emily have transformed their pain into purpose and are dedicated to becoming the change we need to see in our country so that no family has to experience what ours did.

If Emily wins this highly competitive race, we’ll be one step closer to securing a gun safety majority in Congress and will have replaced an NRA loyalist with an activist mother and professional problem-solver who has pledged to act on gun violence on day one.

For all the families who have lost someone to gun violence and for all those families who will soon experience this devastation without life-saving reforms, I’m asking if you’ll join me in electing Emily Busch and a wave of gun violence prevention champions like her at all levels of government.

Thank you,

Fred Guttenberg