As a mother, I feel gut agony to witness in TV reports of war actions and in US mass murders children and babies shot, suffering hideously.

Aside from the many mass shootings taking our great nation by storm. Right here in our own community, we have now seen our 17th homicide. Change will not come on it’s own, it requires action from the people. Gun violence is out of control in the United States, but especially in the Lehigh Valley. Now more then ever is the time to let our elected officials know that we don’t want gun reform, we need it! Before more lives are lost, The time to act is now.

U.S. Congressman Steve Knight (CA-25) has received thousands of dollars in contributions from the NRA. We the residents of California's 25th Congressional District urge Steve Knight to return or donate all NRA contributions received during his political career and commit to not accepting another cent from them in the future. The National Rifle Association has a financial chokehold on much of Congress. That chokehold is one of the main reasons why in spite of the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernardino, and Sandy Hook, we are still unable to PASS COMMON-SENSE GUN LAWS. To date since the Las Vegas tragedy, two representatives–Tim Ryan (Ohio) and Tim Walz (Minnesota)—have donated previous NRA contributions to gun violence protection groups. We are asking Steve Knight to stand with these representatives and return or donate all contributions received from the NRA and commit to not accepting another cent from them in the future.

Would like my congressman Mac Thornberry to quit taking money from NRA lobbyists. We need to fight for commonsense gun control.

Gun deaths have not directly impacted my life, other than that I'm an American watching other Americans die, and I'm tired of it. There's a lot wrong with our country, but like with other issues of our time, I feel Washington can lead the way,and influence other states to do the same.

I have lost Friends and Family to senseless gun violence.

The American people should be able to safely live their daily lives without the pervasive fear of gun violence. Our children deserve no less.

We’ve all been personally affected; my fellow citizens are dying from gun violence at a rate that is much higher than in any other developed nation.

I Live in an area where gun violence is the answer and i have lost so many friends from that.

Gun control is long overdue in America, as seen by watching the local news with its daily shooting reports. We've become inured to the carnage until it gets reinforced by mass shootings which recur too frequently. My best friend's son was shot in the back, leaving him a paraplegic. My friend had to quit her job to care for him and his two-year old daughter. Later, a stroke made Michael a quadriplegic, unable to communicate or eat solid food, plus he had to have a colostomy. The man was bedridden and moved between hospitals and nursing homes (where he contracted MRSA) until his death two years later. Such suffering from 1 gunshot!

Members of Congress have only thoughts and prayers to offer after countless mass shootings in our country. We demand that they work together to find a sensible response beyond thoughts and prayers that might include new gun regulations, and funds for adequate mental health care and anger management education. Before they can do this, they must cut the ties to campaign funds from the gun lobby. Money from the gun lobby, and specifically the NRA, should be seen as an absolute non-starter if one wants to seek election to public office.

A veteran of the Air Force recently committed a terrible massacre in Texas. Adding to this devastating tragedy is the revelation that if the military had reported this veteran's record of violence against his wife and child, he never would have been able to purchase the weapons he used to kill 26 churchgoers. Pentagon policies already require the military to report violent crimes like domestic abuse, but this isn't happening, and this notification failure is putting lives at risk. Tell the Armed Services Committee to instruct all branches of the military to enforce this reporting and conduct a comprehensive review to make sure other violent offenders haven't fallen through the cracks.