Dear John,

Yesterday, our country was rocked by yet another act of political violence. Charlie Kirk, a conservative commentator, was killed at an event at Utah Valley University.

This is the second targeted assassination of a political figure in recent months. In June, Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were murdered in their home. And we only need to look back a year to the assassination attempts on President Trump.

This cannot be the new normal. Any and all forms of political violence are assaults on democracy itself.

Our founder and namesake, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was also the target of an assassination attempt. Here at GIFFORDS Law Center, we know all too well the consequences of allowing political violence to fester without addressing the issue that enables it: loopholes that make it easy for dangerous people to get their hands on firearms. Disagreements cannot be settled with a gun.

Political violence is of course only one aspect of our gun violence crisis. In the minutes after Charlie Kirk’s assassination yesterday, Evergreen High School in Colorado was the target of a school shooting, and two students were hospitalized. All this in addition to the average of 125 Americans that are killed with a gun every day.

We know that strong gun laws save lives, and only by working together can we ensure each and every child, family, and community is safe. Stopping gun violence takes all of us, and we need you now more than ever.

Our thoughts are with Charlie’s family and friends. No one should be targeted because of their beliefs, and no one should have to go through the pain of losing someone they love to gun violence.

Thank you,
Laura

PS: Read Gabby’s latest op-ed on political violence and the Charlie Kirk shooting in TIME.

—
Laura Cutilletta
Chief of Staff & Vice President of Programs
GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence