Another day, another shooting. Today, like so many before it, we’re left picking up the pieces of yet another tragedy—a senseless loss of life that could have been avoided. This time, it happened at Florida State University—a place where students should feel safe, but instead, are now left in mourning. It’s become an all-too-familiar scenario in America: young lives cut short, families grieving, and the nation left reeling. Yet, even after the horrific events, the same predictable response from our leaders—nothing of substance.

Donald Trump, in his usual tone-deaf fashion, has offered his take: an “obligation” to protect the Second Amendment. And in that one statement, he’s offered the bookend to a deadly reality that has come to define our politics: People be damned.

The Second Amendment was never meant to serve as a shield for inaction in the face of carnage. We’ve watched as politicians, both Republican and Democrat, have become slaves to the NRA, more focused on defending an outdated and extreme interpretation of the Second Amendment than on protecting the lives of innocent people—especially our children. It’s sickening. We can no longer afford to make excuses or turn a blind eye to the bloodshed.

Here’s the truth: We are not powerless.

We have the ability to change this. We must stand up and demand that our elected officials work for us—not for the gun lobby, not for their donors, but for the safety of every single person in this country.

But in California’s 48th District, Darrell Issa is still our representative. We put him in office, and we’ve allowed him to stay there—despite his repeated failure to act on the issue of gun violence. Issa has accepted millions from the NRA and voted to block common-sense gun control laws, choosing corporate interests over the safety of our children. His inaction in the face of repeated tragedy speaks volumes. But the truth is: We have the power to make the change. It’s time to hold Issa accountable for his failure to protect the people he was elected to serve.

I’m running for office because I believe we can—and we must—do better. It’s time to pass common-sense gun control laws that prioritize the safety of our communities over the interests of a powerful few. That means universal background checks, banning assault weapons, closing loopholes, and stopping the sale of firearms to people who have no business owning them.

But it’s not just about laws; it’s about a culture shift. We need a national conversation about violence, about mental health, about how to take care of the people in our society who need help the most. We need to stop treating gun violence as an unfortunate inevitability and start treating it as a crisis that demands action—action that protects people over the power of the gun lobby.

We don’t need more thoughts and prayers. We don’t need more empty words about “duty” or “rights”—we need action. We need to stop pretending that this is the price of freedom, that this is just the way things are.

As long as we allow leaders like Darrell Issa to put the interests of the gun lobby above the safety of our children, this tragedy will continue. It will continue to be the reality we live in—until we decide, once and for all, that enough is enough.

I’m committed to making this change. I’m committed to making sure that we protect our communities, our schools, and our children from this epidemic. I won’t stand by while our kids are slaughtered, while people continue to die because a few powerful people refuse to act.

This isn’t just another tragedy. This is a call to action. And I’m ready to fight for the future we deserve—one where safety, not fear, is the foundation of our schools and our streets.