Dear Friend —

We are heartbroken and angry as we learn more and more of the horrific tragedy that occurred in Texas yesterday. The shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde puts our nation’s failure to act on gun violence in a painful spotlight, and our prayers and support are with the loved ones of those killed and with the community of Uvalde. As a country, we have failed to protect our children and our communities. In just over a week, mass shootings alone have killed 32 people in Buffalo, Laguna Woods and now in Uvalde.

As a country, we must finally decide that enough is enough and take decades-overdue steps to protect our communities from the destruction of gun violence. This devastating inaction impacts everyone — not only through these horrifying instances of mass shooting and domestic terrorism but through a nationwide uptick in gun violence that has been felt here in Long Beach as well. Among our peer nations, we are alone in our refusal to adopt overwhelmingly popular, commonsense gun reform and equally alone in the horrific consequences of this failure. If we truly want to honor the memories of those killed in Uvalde and support the families, friends and communities shattered by mass shootings, we must end our too-familiar cycle of violence and inaction.

Taking desperately needed steps to regulate guns won’t just make these events less common but will help address suicide, domestic violence and firearm-related crime. Long Beach residents deserve safe communities and taking action to address guns is a critical part of protecting our residents and families.

From ensuring that nobody can buy a gun without passing a background check to eliminating high-capacity magazines and regulating the sale of semi-automatic weapons, there are concrete steps the Federal Government can take immediately to help prevent these kinds of tragedies from unfolding. We must also make sure that every person has access to counseling and mental health care. These are commonsense solutions supported by a majority of Americans — and each day we fail to make even the most reasonable efforts continues to allow this kind of devastation to thrive in our schools, supermarkets, public spaces and places of worship.

On behalf of Long Beach and communities across the world, we are holding Uvalde in our thoughts. Our love and support go out to everyone touched by this unspeakable tragedy, and we call upon the leaders of our country to finally ensure this never happens again.

Thank you,

Mayor Robert Garcia