John,

In the months after my beautiful butterfly Dylan was murdered in his first-grade classroom, I felt so lost, so empty without my baby boy. So I spent all my waking hours working to pass background check legislation.

I wanted to make sure Dylan didn't die in vain. But when the vote failed in April 2013, it felt like another kind of death.

Right now, we have another chance to pass a universal background checks bill – but the Senate refuses to act. Even after 31 people were murdered in El Paso and Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to call an emergency session to prevent more tragedies from happening. He's still on vacation.

I cannot fail again. I cannot let another parent feel the all-consuming pain of losing a child to gun violence. That's why we must fund our all-out push for this lifesaving bill. We need to raise $80,000 by Thursday to ramp up the pressure, so I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart: Can I count on you to donate now?

Please rush $10, or as much as you possibly can, to Sandy Hook Promise right now. Every dollar you give will help us ramp up our efforts to pass universal background checks and prevent the next tragedy before it happens.

I feel like my heart is bleeding every time I hear there's been another mass shooting. El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brooklyn – that's just the past two and a half weeks.

I do this work – and relive the nightmare of my baby boy's murder – so no other families or communities join this awful "club" of having a loved one ripped from their lives by gun violence. Working to pass these lifesaving gun safety reforms is one crucial way we can do that, so thank you so much for your support.

With love,

Nicole Hockley (Dylan's mom)

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