Ten years ago, my nephew ended his life with a gun while his wife fled with their infant daughter, unable to even call for help until it was too late. Sean was 36 years old, and he left behind a heartbroken family that included that wife and daughter, four older children, his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Several decades ago, I lost a cousin the same way, and when I was 13, my older brother Michael shot himself two rooms away from me. Michael survived, miraculously.
To this day, in a family rife with mental illness, we have no legal way to keep guns out of our vulnerable family members hands, or to even get the mental health care they need. This needs to change, and I will never stop fighting until all of us, everywhere in this country, have the power to protect and help our loved ones at risk of harming themselves or others.