Hi John — I’m Chetan Soni, a high school student and part-time staff member with the Alliance. I’m asking you to help the Alliance meet our $25,000 Giving Tuesday goal because I don’t want another generation to have to grow up in the shadow of gun violence.

My classmates and I have grown up rehearsing our own deaths. We started practicing lockdown drills in Elementary School, hiding in corners, pulling down the blinds, and staying absolutely, completely silent. We knew one day our lives could depend on it.

I was in two lockdowns in middle school. That feeling of dread, that feeling of terror, it never goes away.

Earlier this month, another school shooting hit close to home. A 17-year-old was shot and killed at Ingraham High School in Seattle, WA. In the days after, my peers and I organized a protest that brought thousands of Seattle students to city hall to demand change.

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Our question is this: how many more have to die? How many more lives will be lost before we start treating gun violence as the national emergency that it is?

MAKE YOUR GIVING TUESDAY GIFT NOW: [link removed]

Not a single day has gone by where I haven’t thought about gun violence at school. It shouldn’t be normal for a teacher to promise that if a shooter comes to her class she will take a bullet for us. It shouldn’t be normal for a school district to have to invest in bulletproof bookcases to block doors in the event of an active shooter.

Gun violence should not be normal. And it doesn’t have to be. The Alliance has proven that gun violence prevention is a winning issue–that progress is possible. But there is so much left to do.

I am proud to be part of an organization that is committed not only to stopping school shootings by fighting for policies like an assault weapons ban but also to reducing community gun violence that disproportionately harms BIPOC communities by investing in community violence intervention work.

We can’t do this work alone. Please make the decision today to be part of the movement for a safer future. Take advantage of the generous match opportunity and make a gift by midnight tonight to ensure that we can continue our crucial gun violence prevention work next year: [link removed].

Thank you,
Chetan (he/him)



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