John,



I called Amy last night after I’d learned about the murders in Midland and
Odessa. 

I said, “I don’t feel right.” 

I know this happens all the time. In fact, this is the fourth massacre in
Texas in under two years. And just last year alone there were 340 mass
shootings in America. Amy and I were just talking about this same thing
the night before because we’d both read news stories about a shooting at a
high school football game in Mobile, Alabama. 

In other words, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Because of our
country’s deference to the gun lobby and the NRA at the expense of the
lives of our fellow Americans — our unwillingness to pass background
checks, red flag laws; our inability to stop selling weapons of war and
our failure to buy those back that have already been sold... because of
what we’ve accepted, our complicity in 100 gun deaths a day... because of
all of this, logically, this was bound to happen.
So what made me feel so sick, so sad, so angry?

Maybe it was because it hadn’t even been a month since the last mass
shooting in West Texas, when 22 people were killed at a Walmart in El
Paso. 

Maybe in the aftermath we all took some false comfort, like lightning
couldn’t strike twice. 

Because when it comes down to it, we look at these shootings like we would
a lightning strike, a natural disaster, an act of God, something you
couldn’t predict or plan for, couldn’t stop even if you wanted to. Just
gotta take your chances and accept that it happens.

Like lightning, we think about how to protect ourselves despite the threat
— bulletproof backpacks for our kids; active shooter drills in our
schools; deciding what window you’re going to jump out of, which bookshelf
you’ll pull down, how you’ll get your kid to safety or how you might have
to shelter them by sacrificing your body and your life.  

Now, *you* may not look at it that way... You may be the one organizing
the march for our lives, the walkout from your school, the local Moms
Demand chapter. But, *we*, we are all in this together, for good or for
bad. For life or for death. And in a government of, by and for the people,
we judge ourselves by whether we’ve changed this, or failed to change
this.

And so far, we’ve absolutely failed to change this. 

On that phone call last night, Amy said, “I don’t feel right, either.”  

We feel sick for the families in Midland and Odessa. The parents who lost
a child. The parents who are with their child in the intensive care unit
in Lubbock. The families who are in shock and in mourning. The many
friends we have there, who we called, who assured us they were okay — but
shaken up. Just left the lockdown at the Target, or the Young Democrats
meeting at the hotel, or wherever they were when the first reports of an
active shooter came in.

We talked about how there is so much hatred and pain in this country right
now. Anger and racism and a divide between us that seems to grow every
day. Paralyzing. The sense of common purpose, an ability to focus on what
we have to do together to save ourselves and one another, lost. How do we
find our way back? I told her about a story I’d heard of London during the
Nazi blitz (German for “lightning”) in 1940 and 1941, how in the face of
indiscriminate terror and death a city and a nation united in common
purpose and common cause. Londoners stopped focusing on their petty
differences, their personal disappointments, their private despair — and
did everything they could to save the lives of their fellow humans and to
unite in confronting the Nazi menace.

How do we approach this menace of gun violence that kills 40,000 of us a
year in the same way?

I read something Rabbi Michael Latz wrote this morning. He was responding
to criticism that using profanity to describe this horror — the death toll
in Midland and Odessa now stands at 7, including a 15-year old girl who
attended Odessa high school, with 19 injured, among them a 17-month old
child — and our complicity in it was wrong. To those concerned about
calling a fucked up situation “fucked up,” he said:

“Profanity ain't the F-bomb. Profanity is living in a country where a 17
MONTH OLD BABY IS SHOT IN THE FACE...” 

He reminds us that we must see what is happening clearly, speak about it
honestly and act decisively.

I’ve listened to you as I’ve traveled the country and have written your
experiences, your ideas and your leadership into our plan to stop gun
violence, [ [link removed] ]which you can read here.

But we can’t wait that long to act. Your voice is needed right now.  So
here’s what we must do now. 

 1. When a victims fund is stood up -- donate. I’ll be sure to send a
reminder.  The family of the 17 month old, Anderson Davis, [ [link removed] ]has a
GoFundMe. We know from our experience in El Paso that families will
need help with medical bills, the cost of funerals, making up for lost
income, and paying the rent. Do this.

 2. Call your federal representative in Congress and your U.S. Senator at
(202) 224-3121. Let them know you want them fighting with all they’ve
got for universal background checks, for red flag laws and an end to
the sale of weapons of war. And if you want them to take the next,
necessary step, tell them you support mandatory licensing and a
mandatory buyback of assault weapons. If they don’t hear you and fail
to take action, you will replace them in this next election (in
Virginia, that’s in November of THIS YEAR).

 3. If you’re in Texas, [ [link removed] ]call your state rep and state senator and let
them know that the 10 laws that just went into effect today that
LOOSEN instead of TIGHTEN restrictions on guns need to be repealed. No
reason we should make it easier for people to bring guns near or into
schools, churches, mosques, synagogues and foster care homes. No
reason we should prevent landlords and private property owners from
restricting the use of guns on their property.

 4. [ [link removed] ]Make sure you are registered to vote. Make sure your mom and little
brother, your classmates, your colleagues, your neighbors, your
friends on Facebook are all registered to vote. And then make sure
each and every person in your life votes in every election going
forward until we have leaders who represent our values and our lives.

 5. Join a [ [link removed] ]Moms Demand or [ [link removed] ]March for Our Lives chapter in your state.

 6. Don’t give up or give in. Keep up the faith and the pressure. Let’s
change this now.

- Beto




 


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