To the editor:

A family member reported that the young man had threatened to “kill everyone.”

Police arrived at his home.

They found a sword, and multiple knives.

He later posted photos of himself posing with guns on social media.

He posted threats.

He went out and bought multiple guns.

There were no laws, no boundaries in place at that time of his purchase to ensure the public would be safe. The Clinton 1994 Gun Safety Act was not renewed by republicans.

He began to plan.

He had diagrams of the parade route on social media.

He went to a rooftop and shot at the crowd of innocent civilians on July 4th.

He was not regulated. He was not a militia.

He was a murderer with intent to kill.

The only thing that could have stopped him was a law.

Over the years the NRA endorsed and gave money to the politicians who opposed any common-sense gun measures — all Republicans who have led us down this deadly path for the last two decades.

One of these politicians was Florida Congressman Byron Donalds who voted against recent common-sense gun safety laws.

Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, two Republican Florida senators, also voted against common-sense gun safety legislation.

What path will voters choose at the polls next election?

The lives of our citizens are at stake. Seniors were shot, children were shot at, mothers weeping, the parents of a 2-year-old both killed on July 4th in Illinois. That child is now an orphan. I watch mothers with fear in their eyes, afraid to go to the mall, afraid to send their children to school.

Give us the tools we need to keep the public safe.

Vote Republicans out.

C.A.Hughes, MSW

Cape Coral