I was in 9th grade when the Columbine High School massacre happened. I watched the news of Virginia Tech shooting from Ramstein Air Base. I now make a note of the exits and hiding places at the movie theater after the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. I was driving home to spend the holidays with my family in New Mexico when 20 children and six adults were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary. I was celebrating my wedding night during the Pulse Nightclub attack. I watched the coverage of the Santa Fe, Texas High School shooting from the waiting room of the VA hospital. I worried for my own family members in both the December 2017 high school shooting in Aztec, New Mexico, and the October 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. These events have left indelible memories in my mind.
Parkland, Las Vegas, El Paso, Thousand Oaks, Midland and Odessa. Enough is enough. These mass shootings must end.
I am a gun owner myself and I come from a family of hunters. I believe in protecting my house and family and in upholding the 2nd Amendment. I also believe in responsible gun ownership and I believe that we need to end the terror of gun violence in this country.
When I am elected, I will support a ban on military-style assault rifles and any firearm accessories that facilitate the mass murder of innocent people. I will also vote for legislation that provides for generous and voluntary buybacks. I will vote for red-flag laws and across the board background checks. We already know that these solutions are effective at reducing mass gun violence. They work. And they are common sense measures that we can take to protect our schools, malls and churches. We must act now.
