Dear John,
I know first-hand how frightened the citizens of El Paso must feel about being targeted by a white supremacist who had easy access to guns. A white supremacist stormed a Jewish day camp in California where my daughter Mindy was a 16-year-old camp counselor.
In under three minutes he fired 70 rounds, injuring Mindy and four others. Later that same day, the shooter shot and killed Joseph Ileto, a Filipino-American mail carrier.
That was 20 years ago. As a mother, I turned my anguish into action. With mothers and others from the day-camp and the surrounding community, we formed a chapter now called Brady - San Fernando Valley.
As part of a broad California coalition, we have been part of the solution in dramatically reducing the rate of gun violence in our state. However, as we know in the wake of the latest mass shootings — in Gilroy, Brooklyn, El Paso and Dayton to name just a few— we need strong federal laws too.
Currently, there are several bills that have already been passed by the House of Representatives that are sitting on the desks of Senators. If they truly believed in the urgency of this moment, they would reconvene and pass those bills today. It could be done in an hour.
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that while he will not call back the Senate for a vote, he is willing to hold discussions when the Senate returns. The cynic in me knows that McConnell expects the urgency for action to die down in a few weeks. But the 20-year activist in me knows that we can still have an impact at the ballot box when America mobilizes en masse.
If Congress does not act in the upcoming weeks, Americans must storm the voting booths in November 2020 to get rid of the gun lobby lackeys for once and for all. We must, because lives depend on it.
Donna Finkelstein
Brady, San Fernando Valley
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
840 First Street, NE
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20002
United States
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