11 years ago, a gunman killed 26 people in Sandy Hook elementary, most of them 6 and 7-year-olds.

Sandy Hook should have mobilized Congress to take radical action to prevent further carnage and death. Instead, it wasn't until nearly a decade later after another school shooting – this time at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas – that we got any federal action to staunch the crisis of gun violence in our country.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t stopped the violence.

On Wednesday last week, three people were killed in a mass shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. On that same day, congressional Republicans blocked a bill to renew the assault weapons ban. Earlier this summer, my opponent – Brian Fitzpatrick – single handedly blocked an assault weapons ban and universal background checks in the House.

I'm an Army veteran, John. I know what it is to handle and use guns. It doesn't take surviving a combat mission to know that assault weapons have no place in our streets.

An assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and red flag laws are as popular as they are commonsense. But Brian Fitzpatrick and his fellow Republicans are too beholden to the NRA – either because of their money or simple fear – to stop the bloodshed.

So let me be clear: I am NOT afraid of the NRA. I've faced far worse than them on the battlefield, and I will always fight to save lives from gun violence.

We HAVE to kick out Fitzpatrick if we want to pass commonsense gun laws that stop tragedies like Sandy Hook, Robb, and UNLV. That'll only happen if we raise the money we need to defeat him – so I'm asking you to pitch in $10 or whatever you can.

I'm running for office because as Sandy Hook survivor Emma Ehrens said, "I want to live in a nation that values children more than guns."

Thanks for being in this fight,

Ashley