Friend,

I am heartbroken over the tragic events that occurred this week in Uvalde and the continued tragedies that impact our communities on a daily basis. 

These families dropped their children off at school with the belief that they would be learning and thriving in a safe environment, only to have their worlds turned upside down by tragedy and violence. 

As a mother of two boys, this is my worst fear. 

Incidents of gun violence across this country have become a public health crisis and we need to act. The passing of common-sense gun legislation, paired with healthcare legislation focusing on mental healthcare is how we fight this crisis. 18-year-olds should not be able to purchase AR-15s, and Governor Hochul agrees, proposing we raise the age floor to 21. Looking to other countries, we know gun control laws work: in the UK, where handguns and military-style weapons are banned, the gun homicide rate is less than 2.5% of what we experience in the US, and the last school shooting was in 1996. We also need to eradicate the environment that breeds violence and provide services to at-risk youth.

If you’d like to donate to the families of the Uvalde shooting, you can do so by visiting GoFundMe’s Verified Hub, or Fund for Families of Victims and Survivors of the Uvalde School Shooting set up by the League of United Latin American Citizens.

If you are local to the Uvalde area or know someone who is, local blood banks are looking for donations:

Donors - South Texas Blood & Tissue

Give Blood | San Antonio | University Health

Gun violence is spiking in our own community as well. In the past few weeks, we saw the tragic, racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, an 11-year-old girl shot and killed in the Bronx, and a man gunned down on the subway. 

If you’re looking to get involved in gun violence prevention here in New York, local organizations such as Youth Over Guns and Elmcor are providing community resources and programs to prevent violence and aid in the healing of this public health crisis.

As we reel from the tragedy of the precious lives lost, we need to keep fighting to end this gun violence crisis across the country. We can no longer be silent. As your representative, I will continue to fight for the health and safety of our community and our children.

In solidarity,