“We are seeing the best and worst of our country. Millions of people demonstrated peacefully to protect our democracy last weekend, while the country struggles to cope, once again, with horrific politically motivated shootings. Two Democratic Minnesota state legislators and their spouses were shot in their homes by an assassin who – based on what we know now – seems to hold hatred for Democrats, reproductive health care providers, and possibly also those who protested at No Kings events last Saturday. This was an unspeakable tragedy.

“We look to lawmakers for more than empty words. The fact that our country now has more guns than people, and it is incredibly easy to get lethal firearms, makes stopping these shootings extremely difficult. The shootings in Minnesota are yet another painful reminder of the urgent need to reckon with the freedoms we are losing to gun violence and to adopt sensible federal gun control measures. The pervasiveness of guns and gun violence is chipping away at our freedom to learn, play, worship, shop, and live in our communities without fear – and in this case to publicly serve our communities without risk to our lives. We are now the least-free wealthy democracy in the world. 

“The man who committed this violence is responsible and we also need to change the tone of the national discourse, which begins at the top. It is unacceptable that President Trump demonizes political opponents nearly every day, charging that those who disagree with him ‘do not love our country,’ threatening to use force against protestors, and sending masked ICE agents to terrorize immigrant friends, family, and neighbors at schools, hospitals, workplaces, courthouses, and elsewhere, while ignoring due process by militarizing the streets of Los Angeles to support their brutal tactics. Moms know it’s long past time to disarm and de-escalate in words and in action.”