This has happened before.

Last year, my mother testified in Olympia about how her ex-husband shot her in 2012, and the bill we supported made it through the House, through the Senate committee, and all the way to the floor of the Senate, just to have the gun lobby pull the rug out from under our feet and table the bill.

We can’t let this happen again. House Bill 1840 would make it illegal for anyone subject to an order of protection to own a firearm and would save so many lives.

Last Wednesday, my mother and I both testified again in support of House Bill 1840 and we cannot tell you how much all the support we’ve received has meant to us.

We don’t want this type of preventable gun violence to happen to any other families. We have to make sure the bill passes this time.

And we’re very, very close — the state Senate is voting on the bill sometime in the next few days. It would be a historic moment for reducing gun violence.

I wrote to you last week about my mother, who was shot by her husband of twenty years. I know that HB 1840 would help us make sure that what happened to my mother won’t happen to others.

But to make sure the gun lobby doesn’t pull any more eleventh-hour tricks, we need to keep the pressure on the state Senate — and we don’t have much time.

Urge the state Senate to vote yes on HB 1840, and tell them to put the lives of Washington citizens first.

By Fri‌day, we’ll know whether we’ve taken a historic step forward to protect victims of domestic abuse and made our communities and families safer — or if the gun lobby has sunk yet another commonsense measure to protect lives.

A victory this week would show the world that our work is paying off, and that we’re changing the culture in Olympia.

You can help us make sure that this time the bill passes, and that what happened to my mother doesn’t happen again here in Washington.

Thank you,

Rory Graves