To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

No more military-style assault weapons and high-cap magazines!

Dear Members of Congress:

Protect our families and our communities. Ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition!

Thoughts and prayers from elected leaders are insufficient in the face of this level of tragedy. It’s time to save lives—and you have the power to do so at your fingertips.

Why is this important?

I write this through waves of tears.

Florida is my home, Floridians are my people. This morning, my heart is again burning with pain and anger over a mass shooting that has devastated families and an entire community in my state. This time, it was at a high school. A HIGH SCHOOL. As a mother, the assault on the sanctity of school safety shakes me to my core.

An armed 19-year-old former student went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School yesterday afternoon and shot to death 17 people, wounding 14 more, five of them critically.[1] His weapon? An AR-15.

Every fiber of my being is screaming that no civilian should have access to military-style assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition!

The AR-15, a military-style assault rifle, was used in the Newtown, Orlando, and Las Vegas shootings, to name just a few. It is the weapon of choice for mass murderers and has no business being for sale in America. Right now, there is legislation ready to be passed in Congress that would get military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition off our streets. No matter what the Parkland shooter’s affiliations, hatreds, mental health, or background, his access to a weapon that was designed to kill large numbers of people quickly was why 31 people were slaughtered or maimed yesterday.

Change must occur -- it MUST occur -- before another community suffers the grief of gun violence. Congress has the power to take action to reduce gun violence and they still haven’t. Congress's cowardly inaction is intolerable. Enough is enough.