Trump Did Nothing on Gun Violence. Don’t Let Him Do It Again | Opinion

America is at a crossroads yet again, and on Nov. 5 voters will decide the most important election of our lives.

You’ve heard this statement before. Maybe you’ve heard it too many times, for too many different elections.

So, what makes this November different? One thing stands out to me, above the rest—it’s clearer than ever that our basic, fundamental freedoms as Americans are on the line. Our freedom to choose what we do with our bodies. Our freedom to have an economy that works for the middle class, not just the wealthy and well-connected. And our freedom to live our lives without gun violence.

One candidate wants to save lives and protect our children and communities. The other has told survivors of a horrific act of gun violence to “get over it.”

Gun violence is a public health crisis this country must address. Every day, more than 130 people die from guns. That’s more than 48,000 people lost every year, and tens of thousands more have their lives altered forever, all because someone pulled a trigger. Americans are demanding change: My organization, GIFFORDS, found this summer that the majority of voters are very concerned with gun violence, second only to inflation.

Gun violence isn’t some far-away problem that you hear about but won’t experience yourself. It has infiltrated every corner of this country, spreading like a virus. Guns are the number one killer of American kids—77 percent of parents report being worried about guns at school. They are the reason we lose so many lives to suicide every year. Nearly everyone in this country will know a victim of gun violence in their lifetime.

Thirteen years ago, my own life was turned upside down by gun violence. I was meeting with constituents in the parking lot of a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, when a gunman showed up to assassinate me. He shot me in the head, killed six people, and wounded 13 more.

So, I know just how brutal this crisis is. Trust me when I say the way we address gun violence—and our future as a country—depends on the outcome of this election.

We’ve made a lot of progress in recent years. The Biden-Harris administration has done more for gun safety than any administration in history—helping pass the first major gun reform in 30 years, establishing a whole-of-government approach to the crisis, and ensuring nearly all gun sellers are required to run background checks on purchasers. Now, gun crime is falling in cities across the country. (As a reminder, it skyrocketed during the Trump administration.)

But once again, we’re at a turning point. We can move forward and save lives with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz leading the charge. Or we can dive backward into another Trump presidency, which will derail all the progress we’ve made.

And we know exactly what another Trump presidency would look like—you just have to listen to him. Trump has said that he was proud to do “nothing” on guns while in office, and has promised to undo every gun safety measure the Biden-Harris administration has put in place.

His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), has the same views—arguing that gun violence is a “fact of life” and that all we need to do is “make the doors lock better” to prevent school shootings. That’s how you know they’re in the pocket of the gun lobby, ready to do or say whatever they need to ensure the donations keep coming. They’re tying themselves in knots to blame everything but the common factor in all these lives lost: dangerous people having easy access to guns.

But Harris is committed to taking reasonable, commonsense steps to reduce gun violence across our communities. She’s already tackled this issue in every public office she’s held, from the San Francisco district attorney’s office to the U.S. Senate, and now as vice president. As a gun owner herself, she stands with the majority who support closing loopholes that allow dangerous people to access guns—and she knows that doing so doesn’t interfere with our rights. The growing GIFFORDS Gun Owners for Harris-Walz coalition illustrates exactly who responsible gun owners will be voting for this November.

So yes, I believe this is the most important election of our lives, and the lives of our children.

When she talks about the epidemic of gun violence in America, Harris will often say “it doesn’t have to be this way.” She’s right—and she’s the only person in this race who will do something about it.

Gabby Giffords was a member of Congress from Arizona from 2007 to 2012. She is the founder of GIFFORDS, a national organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.