To Virginia Lawmakers Who Failed Us: Your Days In Office Are Numbered
They chose not to take action, so voters will. November is coming.
On July 9, members of the Virginia General Assembly had an opportunity to make our Commonwealth safe — it was literally in their hands. It’s been a little over a month since 12 people were shot and killed in Virginia Beach, but the tragedy of that day lingers with us and will not go away. Virginia Tech in 2007, journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward in 2015, and the shootings at the Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria in 2017 remain with us today, as does the tragic fact that laws that could prevent the next gun death in Virginia have not been given the consideration they deserve.
When the July 9 Virginia special session was called by Gov. Ralph Northam, the leaders of the General Assembly could have stood up for safety and passed measures to ban silencers, limit high-capacity magazines, and expand background checks to all gun sales, among other important steps. Instead, they chose to stand for special interests and the gun lobby, putting profits before people. In so doing, they turned their backs on victims of gun violence and on their own constituents.
This isn’t about politics or partisanship. It’s about saving lives and honoring the victims and survivors of Virginia Beach and the Virginians victimized by gun violence each day.
I’m grateful to be from Virginia. I grew up here, went to public school here, and am a proud Virginia Tech Hokie. I’m raising my daughters in Arlington and sending them to our public school because I love our Commonwealth. But it pains me that we have not done more to protect their safety and that of all Virginians. And that is because too many Virginia lawmakers are captive to the gun lobby. They chose not to take action, so we will.
We are going to work every day from now until Election Day on November 5 to ensure that we are represented by leaders who put our interests first, and who will fight to protect our safety instead of gun lobby interests. Thoughts and prayers will not stop the next shooting. Votes and laws will.
Since Virginia Tech, we have lost more than 11,000 people to gun violence. More tragic yet is the fact that we could do so much more to prevent these deaths, but when presented with the opportunity to do so, our lawmakers controlling the General Assembly have failed to act.
That is why, all across Virginia, the gun violence prevention movement will stay focused on November. The General Assembly showed us on Tuesday that too many legislators are bought and sold by the industry and put no value on the lives of their constituents. When November arrives, we will replace them with champions who will protect our safety, so that by 2020 we have votes and laws to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities. Our safety was in their hands, but now their time in office is in ours.
