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Dear Neighbor,
It's been a difficult time for our country as we've been - once again - inundated with horrific mass shootings. From Buffalo, New York to Laguna Woods, California the suffering has been immense. And now to Uvalde, Texas where a gunman killed 19 precious children and 2 of their teachers in the second most deadly school shooting in American history.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Imagine a world where weapons of mass murder aren't easier to attain than health care. Where shoppers make it out of the grocery store alive. Where worshippers can pray in peace without fear their lives may be shattered at any moment. Where children and their teachers go to school and come home safely.
That’s not a fantasy. It's reality for virtually every country but ours. America isn't suffering from unique mental illnesses. We don't have unique exposure to violent media or video games. We do, however, have a unique overabundance of guns — and that's why we suffer such unique trauma, over and over and over again. With no end in sight.
I don't want to hear any more excuses or false equivalencies. I don't want to hear nonsensical solutions to the most obvious challenge we face. I don't want to hear one word from Republicans in Congress about being "pro-life" while they continue to pocket the gun lobby's blood money. And I don't want to have another moment of silence for whatever community may come next.
I want action.
I want bills on the floor that will tackle the problem. Bills like HR 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021, and HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021. And we need the Senate to abolish the filibuster so a minority of individuals who are vastly out of touch with the majority of Americans who want gun safety reforms cannot block any and all action. We need to meet this moment with bold, aggressive policy — because every moment we delay could mean another school turned graveyard. Any other nation, without a party more devoted to its special interests than its kids, would have acted long before now.
Mass shootings aren't inevitable or unpredictable. We have the power to stop them, to save lives. So let's do it for God's sake, before we find ourselves in mourning again. May the memory of those we've lost, in Uvalde and across America, be for a blessing — and may they guide our path forward so that we can finally put an end to this national nightmare.
Stay safe.
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