My daughter Jordan is a preschool teacher. We spent much of yesterday talking about how she would protect herself and her students in an active shooter situation.

I am so tired.

I grieve for the children whose lives were stolen, and the parents and families whose lives will never be the same because of the gun violence in Uvalde. I can’t stop thinking of these fourth-grade children, their whole lives in front of them, and their loved ones, excited by the end of the school year, and one person with a gun who took that all away.

I am horrified and angry that our society seems to accept this. We need policy action to reduce gun violence. If this atrocious event doesn’t move us to make real and lasting change, I fear for our future.

Resources

• UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program
• California Firearm Violence Research Center
• UC Davis LIVE on Gun Violence: Watch video and read summary of a recent livestream with UC Davis experts discussing causes, trends and solutions