(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Another Mass Shooting: I never wanted to write an article like this [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-19
It was just another busy Thursday afternoon. I was about to hop on yet another campaign-related Zoom call when the alert came in:
ACTIVE SHOOTER AT FSU.
My heart stopped. Does Cael have class today?
My son, Cael, and his girlfriend both take afternoon classes at Florida State. I immediately checked their location. Thankfully, they were home — safe. Then I opened Life360 to check on my husband, a professor in the FSU Business School. The app showed he was still in his office—right next to the FSU Student Union where the shooting was happening. I texted him immediately.
He was okay—but in lockdown. Just like the rest of the campus.
Our campaign team dropped everything and began checking in with friends.
Reply after reply, report after report came in—people we care about barricaded in classrooms, sheltering in place, paralyzed with fear. Texting loved ones. Begging for updates. Hoping the next sound they heard wasn’t gunfire.
One friend was in a room in the Student Union for a meeting when the shots rang out. She locked the door, flipped tables to create a barricade and texted our group chat while crouched waiting.
As the lockdowns began to lift, the fear gave way to something else:
Anger. Rage. Exhaustion.
Like so many communities before us, we were left in the aftermath of another preventable tragedy. My team and I wanted to speak out immediately—about all the ways our leaders have failed us. The missed opportunities. The bills that never passed. The voices ignored.
But I hesitated.
I didn’t want to “politicize” the pain. I wanted to give space for victims, families, and our community to grieve.
But here’s the truth I’ve had to sit with:
This is already political.
Activism is political. Grief is political. Survival is political.
We can’t change these outcomes if we don’t change the laws—and the lawmakers.
We can light candles. We can post prayers. We can hold vigils. But until we demand real accountability from the people in power, this cycle will continue.
I am not suggesting we take away everyone’s guns. I am not trying to infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights. As a member of a responsible gun-owning family, I believe in the Second Amendment. But there are common-sense solutions we should all be able to agree on.
Universal background checks.
Safe storage laws.
Red flag laws.
Closing loopholes.
Continuing to protect our schools and campuses.
These are policies supported by a majority of Americans—including responsible gun owners.
Meanwhile, our own Congressman, Neal Dunn, has done nothing to protect our schools or communities from mass shootings. Not one meaningful action. He’s had every opportunity to support sensible reforms—and time and again, he’s chosen not to.
The cost of that inaction came home to us Thursday.
We shouldn’t have to live like this.
Our kids shouldn’t have to fear for their lives at school.
Teachers shouldn’t have to be trained to shield children from bullets.
And no parent, family or loved one should ever have to check Life360 to see if their family and friends survived the day.
We owe it to our children, our educators, and our neighbors to demand more than thoughts and prayers. We owe them action. And that starts with electing leaders who will fight—for safety, for responsibility, and for the future our communities deserve.
We owe it to our children, our educators, and our neighbors to demand more than thoughts and prayers. We owe them action.
And that starts with electing leaders who will fight—for safety, for responsibility, and for the future our communities deserve.
If you’re ready to say “enough is enough,” help us build a campaign rooted in courage, compassion, and common sense.
Join our team so we can take this fight to Congress—and bring real change home to North Florida.
Yen Bailey
Candidate for Florida Congressional District 2
*Submitted by Yen Bailey for Congress Campaign
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/19/2317477/-Another-Mass-Shooting-I-never-wanted-to-write-an-article-like-this?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
