Happy Independence Day, John!

I’m excited to be celebrating the fourth of July with family and friends, and I hope you are too. We all deserve the opportunity to safely enjoy these annual holidays with our communities.

Unfortunately, two years ago today, this wasn’t the case in the town of Highland Park, Illinois. They were rocked by a mass shooting at a July 4th parade that killed seven people and injured 48 others.

While many of us spend holidays celebrating with loved ones, the terrors of gun violence are a 24/7 occurrence in America. There’s so much about our nation to be proud of, but our failure to address this public health crisis is stain on our leadership.

We can do better as a country. I want to live in an America where I don’t have to worry about dangerous people acquiring military-grade weapons and using them to inflict devastating harm to communities.

John, I grew up in the Chicago suburbs not too far from Highland Park. I can picture the excitement in the air as families ventured downtown to take in the annual July 4th parade. But due to our ineffective gun laws, that day became a nightmare for Highland Park.

I grieve with the families who lost loved ones two years ago today. As someone who’s been in their shoes, I know the pain never goes away.

We must not accept this status quo. I promise to keep fighting in Congress to pass better legislation to end this public health crisis of gun violence.

Onward,

Lucy McBath