John,

In the last week alone, there have been 15 more mass shootings, totaling 25 deaths and many more injured. This is unacceptable.

Gun violence is a plague on this country, and it is just getting worse. And yet, we have a full party that is willing to sit idly by and feign ignorance.

At the end of May, the NRA held a convention. Ironically, they banned guns. If guns make us safer, why did they ban them at their own event? Strange.

The speakers gave their thoughts and prayers for the lives lost this last month, then proceeded to propose the most asinine, ridiculous things I have ever heard.

Making schools have one doorway, promoting bulletproof backpacks, arming the untrained school staff. Not one proposal came to crack down on the absolutely insane amount of guns we have in this country.

I believe in the second amendment, but there is a stark difference between having the right to own a firearm and having open access to child-killing machines.

Something must change. Now. How many lives must be lost before Republicans recognize that?

Last week, I wrote about how I survived a school shooting. You can read that story below.

Please consider chipping in to help me fight gun violence in Illinois and all across our great nation.

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John,

I survived a school shooting in 1992. A former student killed three students, a teacher, and injured ten others.

I knew the victims. I saw the pain that ripped through the community. I attended the memorial events. I was there, and it haunts me to this day.

School shootings are becoming more and more frequent by the year. This country is deeply troubled, and it's taking its toll. Something must be done. We need common sense gun control.

However, we cannot ban guns. Banning anything doesn't work, as we've learned from prohibition and abortion. Firearms are a constitutional right that the American people must hold.

But we can raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm, increase wait times, put more resources into background checks, close loopholes, and not allow any school shooting tip to go uninvestigated.

We also need to build a society that is healthier for young men. Six out of nine of the deadliest mass shootings since 2018 were committed by men 21 or younger. These are young men who are on the fringes of society, many of whom have fallen into right-wing radicalization.

We need better mental health care, and we need to combat the growing threat of right-wing radicalization on the internet.

Republicans have obviously combatted every attempt to implement common sense gun control. They are this country's biggest obstacle to proper mental health, just this week voting on party lines against funding mental health care. And, of course, they are the constantly denying that there is any issue with online right-wing radicalization.

American legislators need to snap back to reality and actually put a shred of effort into fixing this country's problems. Republicans are doing everything they can to deny what's really going on and block any proper change. That needs to change.

We need to make 2022 the biggest blue wave ever if we want to stop this deadly tide of mass shootings. We need to get out there and rally voters in every single district. We need to ignite this movement like never before.

Please consider pitching in and helping me carry the blue inertia for Illinois' 17th district.

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