We must do more to protect Americans from gun violence
Iremember dropping to my knees and sobbing. My heart was racing. It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t have actually happened. But the call from the sheriff at 7 a.m. was undeniable.
On Sept. 29, 2012, my boyfriend, Brandon, was shot and killed in his car while leaving a family cookout. Our neighbor woke up to the sound of my boyfriend’s pickup, and fearing it was a robber, he shot into the truck and struck my boyfriend in the back. Brandon died in the arms of his brother who was with him that evening.
I’ll never forget arriving at the police station and hugging Brandon’s brother. There was still blood on his pants.
Here’s the thing: Guns were nothing new to me. Having someone I loved shot and killed was.
I grew up in Alabama, where at the age of 8, I learned how to shoot a gun on my family’s farm. Guns weren’t something I feared, they were part of our culture. Everyone had one and the idea of them causing harm to someone I loved never crossed my mind. But when Brandon was shot and killed, I quickly became aware that while my experience was unique to me, it was not to other Americans around the country. Far too many people — including the more than 90 shot and killed every day, along with the hundreds of others who are injured — are impacted by gun violence.
My experience made me pause to think about life. We can love our guns, but we can also love one another enough to agree that we must do more to protect Americans from gun violence.
I decided to share my voice and work to be part of the solution to help prevent other families from suffering through the pain of having a loved one taken by senseless gun violence.
I’ve done that in a lot of ways. Here at home in New Mexico, I’ve shared my voice in support of commonsense gun laws, including legislation that would close the background check loophole in our state and require a criminal background check on all gun sales.
And recently, I traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of Everytown Survivor Fellowship Program.
As part of this program, I have a renewed sense of motivation to share my story and empower people like me to fight to end gun violence. I plan to take the lessons — and stories — I learned back home to advocate for change that will help save lives. I plan to continue to make sure our elected leaders in the statehouse and Congress know that we expect them to reject the gun lobby’s dangerous agenda and support commonsense gun safety measures that will help save lives.
When I arrived in Washington, I looked straight ahead to the United States Capitol and knew I could feel proud that some leaders we send to Washington are in fact listening to our voices. For proof, look no further than Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Tom Udall, D-N.M.; both have announced their opposition to a dangerous policy known as “concealed carry reciprocity.” This type of legislation would force each state — including New Mexico — to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state, even those with weaker standards. For instance, our neighbor, Arizona, actually allows people with no permit, no training and a history of abusing an intimate partner to carry a concealed gun in public.
All of our leaders should follow the senators’ lead and pledge to reject the gun lobby’s deadly agenda.
I know I’ll continue to keep the fight for gun safety going. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m in this for the long haul. No one should get a phone call that their loved one was killed by gun violence. Together, we can end gun violence.
We can love our guns, but we can also love one another enough to agree that we must do more to protect Americans from gun violence.