Rep. Omar shares September update
Hello neighbor,
I write to you with a heavy heart this month. There are no words to describe the immeasurable grief our community is experiencing in the wake of the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that took the lives of two beautiful angels, injured 21 others, and forever changed the lives of many. What I find most tragic is that our children were targeted while partaking in the most innocent action – sitting in prayer at the first all-school Mass of the school year. As a mother, I cannot imagine the heartbreak the families of the victims of this horrific violence are feeling. As your representative, I refuse to accept that this is the reality our children must grow up in.
In these past few weeks, we have heard calls for “thoughts and prayers” from leaders in Minnesota and across our country – as we do every time one of our communities experiences the unthinkable. And while prayer is a powerful and necessary tool for our community to begin to heal and overcome the trauma of tragedy, as legislators we have the undeniable duty to join together and take strong legislative action to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. There is only one solution – we need nationwide gun reform.
In Minnesota, from universal background checks to red flag laws, we enforce some of the strictest gun reforms in the country. But it simply is not enough. We have to pass an assault weapons ban both in our state and nationwide. Since our country is a union, we have to pass meaningful gun reform on the federal level to stop wrongdoers from harming our communities. That is why I have consistently pushed for federal solutions to this crisis in Congress. I have long supported legislation to expand universal background checks, ban assault weapons, provide federal funding for community-based violence intervention programs, and invest in mental health resources. I will continue to fight for the reforms necessary to ensure tragedies like this become a thing of the past.
On Congress’s first day back in session, I gathered the full Minnesota Delegation on the House Floor for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting. Additionally, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and I led the entirety of the Minnesota Delegation in introducing a bipartisan resolution to condemn the senseless act of violence that took place, honor the memory of those lost, and recognize the courage of first responders, caregivers and community members who acted swiftly in the face of tragedy. I was proud to see our delegation come together in this moment of tragedy, but we must do more.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America. No other developed country lives like this; it is a uniquely American failure. It should not be hard for us to come together as legislators to enact common sense gun reforms at the federal level, and protect the communities we serve. In 2022, I was proud to support the most significant gun safety legislation signed into law in over 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Our bill extended background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, increased funding for state red flag laws and other crisis intervention programs, and invested in school mental health resources and suicide prevention. Three years ago, we came together as Republicans and Democrats to take this necessary step towards stopping our gun violence epidemic, and we have a moral obligation to do it again.
We must work together to get weapons of war off our streets. It’s time for us to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and ensure that no one has the capacity to do irreparable harm to our communities. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It is simply about ensuring our children have the liberty to safely go to school, that parents can drop their children off without the fear that they might lose them to gun violence, and our country’s youth can grow up to live their full potential. Our country deserves a future where all Americans can live free from the fear and trauma of gun violence, and I will continue to fight every day until it becomes our reality.
Until next month.