Content warning: This email discusses gun violence and murder.

Team,

The tragic mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, yesterday was the seventh mass shooting in that many days.

We were still reeling from the horrific act of violence in Atlanta against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities when we heard the news of the 10 lives taken in Boulder. These terrible, heartbreaking mass shootings do not need to be part of our daily lives, yet we continue to let the issue of gun violence fester.

Our communities are living in terror. In the United States of America, we should not have to fear for our lives every time we go to a supermarket or a movie theater or a spa, like I did growing up in a war zone. Children should not have to lie in wait in their classrooms. No one should have to wonder whether their loved ones will come home safely each night.

For years, Congress has cowered to the gun lobby -- prioritizing NRA contributions over protecting precious lives. So many have lost mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, loved ones and friends.

And the pandemic has brought a new urgency to the issue, with mass shootings surging by 47% last year, as many states reported unprecedented increases in weapons-related incidents.

For the past few years, every time the House Democratic Majority passed critical gun safety legislation, Mitch McConnell let the bills collect dust on his desk as he raked in more donations from the NRA.

And now, even after Democrats have taken the House and the Senate, the House's bills to expand and strengthen background checks are still awaiting Senate action because of the filibuster -- a racist Jim Crow relic that makes it nearly impossible to pass the reforms our country is counting on.

It's more critical than ever that we take on the corrupt gun lobby and abolish the filibuster to pass sensible gun safety legislation to finally see a country that puts the public health and safety of people over profit.

So keep speaking truth to power and making sure every elected official that represents you, from your local representatives to your senators to the president of the United States, knows that our movement will never, ever back down when it comes to demanding urgent action to end gun violence.

In solidarity,

Ilhan Omar