My thoughts go out to the people of El Paso and Dayton today. And, to everyone touched by these tragedies. Unfortunately, they are not alone. 

We have now seen our 251st mass shooting for the year. We have seen hundreds of communities ravaged by gun violence, thousands of lives lost and countless others forever changed through the loss of their loved ones. In addition to the mass shootings, there also was the shooting death of 25-year old, Erin Langhofer – an innocent bystander – who was killed in Kansas City this past weekend. 

This is not normal. We are in the midst of a public health crisis and we should not wait for another gun-related tragedy to occur to take action. It’s time we do something about this before it’s too late. It’s time to implement real, common sense gun-safety laws. 

For now, we are focused on the victims of these mass shootings, their families and the communities that they called home. However, in the coming weeks we must address this issue. We must end gun violence now.