Another Mass Shooting - What Are You Going To Do to End This?

I write to you grieving for the victims and outraged on behalf of the families whose lives were shattered by the mass shooting in Austin, TX on February 28–March 1, 2026. Three people are dead — including the shooter — and fourteen others were wounded at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden on West Sixth Street. What should have been an ordinary night in one of Texas’s most vibrant communities became another entry in America’s endless ledger of preventable bloodshed. This was not an isolated incident. It was not “unthinkable.” It was the foreseeable result of a system you have the power to change and have repeatedly failed to fix. American families everywhere — are being forced to live with a level of gun violence that no other developed nation tolerates. Lives are cut short. Survivors carry lifelong trauma. Communities are left fractured. And still, Congress stalls. Enough. Prayers without policy are not leadership. Moments of silence are not solutions. The American people deserve action equal to the scale of this crisis. I demand that Congress immediately: 1. Strengthen Background Checks. Close every loophole that allows firearms to be sold without universal background checks — including private sales, gun shows, and online transactions. 2. Pass Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Legislation. Create a national standard empowering families and law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who pose a credible danger to themselves or others. 3. Ban Assault-Style Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines. Weapons engineered for rapid, high-casualty attacks do not belong in civilian circulation. Their repeated use in mass shootings is not coincidence — it is consequence. 4. Invest in Community-Based Violence Prevention. Fully fund evidence-based programs focused on intervention, mental health services, crisis response, and local violence reduction strategies. 5. Support Law Enforcement While Addressing Root Causes. Provide resources that allow law enforcement to prevent and respond effectively — while also investing upstream to reduce the conditions that fuel violence. Responsible gun ownership and responsible gun laws are not mutually exclusive. Protecting constitutional rights does not require tolerating preventable massacres. The right to bear arms does not eclipse a citizen’s right to gather in public without fear of being shot. Americans are exhausted. We are tired of watching our communities become headlines. We are tired of elected officials expressing sorrow while refusing to enact meaningful change. Every failure to act signals that the next tragedy is acceptable collateral damage. It is not. Do not wait for the next mass shooting to revisit this debate yet again. Act now — decisively and courageously. The families of Austin, and countless others across this country, deserve more than condolences. They deserve leadership. I expect your response — and more importantly, your action.