Pettersen: The Evergreen High School shooting feels overwhelming, but gun violence is a policy choice

I was sitting in my congressional office before heading to the House floor for votes when my phone lit up Charlie Kirk right-wing activist and podcaster has been shot in the neck at a rally on a college campus in Utah The growing political violence we ve seen of late has been gut-wrenching and terrifying I m not only scared for the safety of friends and colleagues but fearful for the future of our country Then my phone lit up again I received additional horrifying news there was at that very moment an current shooter at Evergreen High School I was stunned sitting on the couch thinking about the parents receiving word that there was an working shooter and that they were warned not to go to the school for their safety The helplessness and not knowing if they d ever see their kids again My heart breaks for the students who continue to fight for their lives in the hospital the parents who are at their bedsides not knowing if they will ever come home and for the kids and educators who will carry the trauma of this day forever Just like every parent reading the headline I felt the shock and terror and thought what if that was my kid What if that was his school I m outraged that this is the aftermath of failed guidelines and inaction I grew up here I attended high school in Jefferson County not too far from Columbine I still remember the shock I felt as a junior in high school when the unimaginable happened Back then it shocked the nation But now it s become all too common Mass shootings have become an ugly stain on our state My heart breaks that Evergreen now joins the long line of Colorado communities forever changed by a mass shooting While Colorado has a history of making national headlines for gun violence we re certainly not unique Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in this country Not cars Not cancer But gun violence It s worth repeating guns are the number one killer of our kids And the largest part outrageous part about all of this is that it s thoroughly preventable How multiple lives do we need to lose before we are willing to say enough Just weeks ago we saw kids in Minnesota killed at school And earlier this summer lawmakers murdered outside their homes Now a conservative activist Now once again high school students in Evergreen Who s going to be next It feels like we ve reached a current point This is untenable We are living through a dark moment in our country s history one that will be remembered for whether we confronted the radicalization and violence tearing at our communities or allowed it to break us apart As a society we are being forced to answer a fundamental question is this who we want to be as a country This is a procedures choice Not a political one Related Articles I once uncovered a sealed urn in the Grand Canyon and other examples of failing to pack it out Opinion Scott Gilmore s layoff is another broken promise for the indiginous area Opinion Dark money groups have corrupted Denver School Board elections Opinion Krista Kafer Colorado don t back down from Trump s threats Trump threatens pretrial fairness in a push that only protects wealthy bondsmen Opinion We have to ask ourselves do we want to live in a country where our kids are being gunned down in their classrooms Where your life hangs in the balance at a grocery store a movie theater or a political rally This is the moment to decide Overwhelmingly we want a world where our kids can come home safe from school Where their lives aren t at vulnerability because of what they believe But we need leaders who have the courage to stand up and decide that we are no longer going to standby while one more life is taken too soon We re all still reeling from the events of this week But our locality is resilient The world feels heavy right now but we can t give up hope My kids and our kids depend on it If you are struggling and need sponsorship please call to be connected to someone who cares Also know that my unit and I are here to encouragement you and our neighborhood every step of the way as we recover from this tragedy Together we can build the future our children deserve U S Rep Brittany Pettersen was first elected to represent the th Congressional District in Colorado in Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail