Cheryl Stumbo, sponsor of I-594, writes in The Stranger

This is absolutely true: You think that a tragedy like this won’t happen to you—until it does. I know all too well what the Seattle Pacific University community is feeling. When a gunman entered my workplace eight years ago, it was the very last thing I expected. Now, I work with other people like me and my family and friends—people who have had their lives violently impacted by gun violence.

Yesterday’s shooting at SPU is only the most recent reminder of how gun violence can rock a community to its core. After Café Racer, Lakewood, Federal Way, and the Jewish Federation we are now heartbroken again. Our love and support go out to the families, students and faculty of SPU. I’m familiar with the road before them—and want them to know that we are here to walk with them as they deal with what’s to come. We are also in awe of the bravery of students and first responders who stopped this tragedy from being even worse.

[…]

Washington State will have a chance to pass Initiative 594 in November, which will ensure that everyone who buys a gun undergoes the same background check. This will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other dangerous people, and keep our schools, homes and communities safer. We must take the first step to stopping the bloodshed. By passing Initiative 594, we have a chance to stand up and say: Not. One. More.

Read the whole article here.