Dear Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell,

We are scared. We are scared that our friends and family will be slaughtered in a shooting. We are scared that at any time, a person could walk into our schools and kill us. As your constituents, we are pleading with you to take action on this epidemic of gun violence destroying our communities.

As you know, on Tuesday, November 8th, a student was shot and killed at Ingraham High School. Even though this was not one of the over 500 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, we cannot afford to wait for a higher death toll in Washington schools to effect change.

We need you to take action to ensure that:

Every person who buys a gun passes a background check. There should no longer be gaps in American gun legislation that allow for loopholes such as the “gun show loophole” or the “boyfriend loophole.” Universal background checks need to be required on all gun purchases.

High-capacity weapons and assault rifles should not be available to civilians. There is no legitimate self-defense purpose for these military-style weapons whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people in a short amount of time.

Gun trafficking becomes a federal offense. Illegal gun sales fuel the flow of firearms in the United States and around the world and hugely contribute to instances of gun violence.

Please improve our future. Help us end the devastating epidemic of gun violence in our country.

Sincerely,

Seattle-area students and families