John, today my heart has been with families in Oxford, Michigan.

Four dead and seven injured in yet another school shooting – a uniquely American problem. 

And now comes the sadly predictable aftermath: Thoughts and prayers. Vigils. Interviews with shocked students, and with angry and upset parents. Media profiles of the shooter. Then, inaction by the legislative body who can begin to fix this uniquely American problem of gun violence: Our U.S. Congress.

And of course, at the end of this predictable cycle that plays out after every high-profile mass shooting, we are left with a continued failure to act that has gone on for years. While Congress was refusing to act yesterday, Michigan parents received phone calls that their kids had been shot at school.

I’ve been on the receiving end of a call like that, John. And in meetings with my Republican colleagues, I tell that story. I ask for their empathy. For their political courage. For their humanity.

John, my heart breaks for the Michigan families who were just added to what my friend, Parkland Dad Fred Guttenberg, calls “the club that nobody wants to join.” 

We must continue our work, John, to win this fight to end gun violence. For my son Jordan. For Fred’s daughter Jaime. For the Oxford, Michigan community. And for every precious life that has been cut short from gun violence.

In solidarity,

— Lucy