Which life is not worth saving? 

It's a question I posed to my Republican colleagues two years ago now about gun safety legislation – during the first committee meeting on gun violence in nearly a decade, right after Democrats won back the House majority. 

That committee hearing was shortly before the first anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. The first anniversary where the survivors and loved ones of the victims would be painfully reminded that their son, daughter, friend, student, grandchild, niece, nephew – that those 17 beautiful souls wouldn't return to them. Wouldn't speak to them again. Hug them again. 

They were robbed of their lives, all because somebody got their hands on an assault rifle (a weapon of war, really) that they never should have been allowed to have in the first place. 

Later in February 2019, the House of Representatives introduced legislation for universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons – because it's worth passing a law to keep guns out of the wrong hands if it can save even one life. But these bills sat on Mitch McConnell's desk for nearly two years, without even a debate in the Senate. 

Now that Democrats have won back the Senate majority, this is the time for the Senate to act and pass commonsense gun reform measures into law. If you believe that every life is worth saving, can I count on you to sign my petition urging the Senate to do what's right? Add your name right now to demand the Senate take action to save lives from gun violence.

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Florida knows the scourge of gun violence. I watched my own community get ripped apart when Pulse nightclub was attacked in Orlando. We came together. We healed – but it was painful. Forty-nine innocent souls were lost. 

The people of Parkland came together, too. What we witnessed in the aftermath galvanized the country unlike any other event – the survivors, many still only children, called us to action, stepping into a role they never should have had. When they should have been worrying about completing high school, passing exams, going to prom, the survivors of Parkland organized. They endured trauma and put pressure on lawmakers. It's incumbent on us to hear their cry and continue to stand with them.

While we've made progress, ultraconservative Republicans in Congress and in legislatures across the country have also stifled progress. But the survivors of Parkland pushed on in this fight. Countless advocates in Florida push on in this fight. I push on in this fight – and I'm not giving up for a minute. Because every single life is worth saving.

I need you fighting alongside me, friend. Gun violence is among the greatest crises that face our nation, and it's long past time for action. So please, will you sign my petition now and demand the Senate take action on gun violence?

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Thank you,

Congresswoman Val Demings



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