We Need to do Something about Guns

Thoughts on my friend, Gabby Giffords

Five years ago today, my friend Gabby Giffords was shot outside a grocery store in Tucson — a mass shooting that took the lives of six people, including one of her Congressional staff members, a federal district court judge, and a nine-year-old girl. Six people who might still be here with us if we had taken the time years ago to pass common-sense reform that could have kept guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.

And yet, five years later, we’ve done nothing to make ourselves or our communities safer. Instead, we’ve witnessed too many senseless acts of violence and depravity that have torn families apart — while many of our lawmakers kowtow to the gun lobby and stand in the way of action that could reduce the number of gun deaths we see. We simply can’t afford the kind of political cowardice we’ve seen from so many Republicans, and that’s why I’m proud to stand with President Obama as he takes executive action to minimize gun violence.

Last night, at a town hall in Fairfax, Virginia, he laid it all out on the line:

We deserve better than lawmakers who care more about siding with the NRA than protecting their constituents. Our lives, and the lives of people all over this country, depend on us standing up and doing something about this.

So, for all the families who’ve ever lost a loved one to gun violence, the time to act is now.

Today, Gabby is still recovering, and she’s standing with us too — fighting every single day for common-sense gun laws that can help prevent tragedies like what happened in Tucson five years ago. We can really make a difference here, all we’ve got to do is take those first steps.