Prevent more deaths like my daughter's

Early in the morning on Nov. 26, 2011, my daughter Esscence was driving on Broad Street when a car pulled up alongside her and someone inside opened fire. Esscence, who was 21, was shot and killed. She wasn’t the target, and no one ever found the gunman.

 Esscence, my youngest daughter, brought much light, warmth and joy to each life she touched.

 My daughter was unique, as all of ours are. Tragically, our story is not. Too many families, schools, and communities have been ripped apart by gun violence. Too many brothers and sisters are left shattered — just as my three other children were — because a part of them has been torn away forever. And too many parents have had to bury their children, as I buried Esscence.

 Esscence cannot speak anymore, so now I must speak for her. I speak for the rest of our family — and for so many others touched by gun violence — when I say enough is enough. During National Gun Violence Survivors Week, Feb. 1-8, I’m sharing my story because I know there are countless Americans like me, each with our own stories of how our families and communities have been shattered by gun violence. All of our stories deserve to be heard.

 Soon after Esscence was killed, I started volunteering with the Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. I’m now one of 6 million volunteers nationwide committed to passing common-sense gun safety laws that save lives. And it’s working.

 Across the country, at every level, lawmakers are debating and passing life-saving legislation — and Moms Demand Action volunteers are supporting them every step of the way. But our work isn’t over yet.

To build on the recent steps Rhode Island has taken to improve public safety, our legislature can pass two bills that would help prevent other families from going through what ours did.

 For one thing, w should prohibit high-capacity magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. High-capacity magazines enable mass shootings — the more bullets a shooter can fire without reloading, the more devastated families and communities they can leave behind. Of the five deadliest mass shooting incidents in America over the past decade, all five involved high-capacity magazines. And when these shootings occur, every second that a shooter isn’t firing is a second more for law enforcement to respond or for survivors to escape.

 Additionally, we should prevent access to ghost guns — untraceable, undetectable homemade firearms that allow people who shouldn’t have guns evade background checks to get them. These guns aren’t marked with serial numbers and therefore can’t be traced by law enforcement.

Thankfully, our lawmakers recognize the need to prohibit these dangerous and easily accessible guns. Sen. Cynthia Coyne and Rep. Patrica Serpa have already introduced legislation prohibiting ghost guns. In their opening-day remarks, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio committed themselves to passing that legislation.

 These steps are critical, and they should remind us how important it is that we all raise our voices.

 No more mothers should have to receive the call I got on Nov. 26, 2011 — the call that told me my baby girl was gone forever. It’s time for Rhode Island lawmakers to pass these common-sense measures to help make sure that no other families have to go through what our family went through.

Diana Garlington is a volunteer with the Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and a member of the Everytown Survivors Network.