Sunday, June 25, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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Six years ago, a shooter opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, shooting and killing 60 people and wounding more than 400 others. I was one of the many who were in the crowd that night. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Since that horrifying day and after a long recovery, I have started my career as a social worker and have dedicated my spare time to advocating alongside other gun violence survivors and Moms Demand Action volunteers for an end to our gun violence crisis. We fight every day for measures to help prevent future shootings because I never want anyone to be forced to endure the pain and fear I felt that night.
After the shooting, we called ourselves “Vegas Strong” and swore to never let it happen again. Some lawmakers offered nothing more than thoughts and prayers; others offered promises to protect our communities from future tragedies. Over the years, gun safety champions in our state Legislature have followed through on those promises, passing universal background checks, an Extreme Risk law, a law requiring that guns be stored safely to prevent access by children, as well as a bump stock ban.
During this year’s legislative session, we saw the start to tremendous progress in our fight to continue passing laws that will save lives. Moms Demand Action volunteers testified and rallied at the state capitol relentlessly, and lawmakers in Carson City passed three sensible bills to protect polling places from armed intimidation, increase the minimum age for the purchase of semiautomatic assault rifles from 18 to 21, and prevent individuals convicted of hate crimes from possessing firearms.
Unfortunately, despite widespread support and tireless advocacy by our volunteers and public safety advocates, Gov. Joe Lombardo sided with the gun lobby and vetoed all three bills. He vetoed the measures without so much as an explanation to our state’s gun violence survivors. Then, when state Senate Democrats moved to override the governor’s veto, Republican senators followed the governor’s lead and upheld the veto.
The Oct. 1 shooting changed our state forever. As I reflect on that tragic event, I am grateful to be alive today to tell my story, but many are not, and we owe it to victims and their families to fight for measures that protect us from gun violence.
Our leaders cannot continue to ignore our stories by hiding behind thoughts and prayers.
It’s time for those in power to honor victims and survivors of gun violence with action that transcends partisan politics. Those who refuse, including legislative Republicans, must be held accountable for failing to safeguard Nevada families from this ongoing threat.
We simply cannot afford another failure from Lombardo and gun lobby-backed legislators in the fight to end gun violence. As we approach the upcoming election season and head to the voting booth, let us use our votes as a powerful tool to elect leaders who value the safety and security of Nevadans above all else, especially the gun lobby.
Geena Marano is a social worker and survivor of the Route 91 Harvest music festival shooting on Oct. 1, 2017. She lives in Las Vegas.
