If I die in a mass shooting…

Last night, I was at dinner a few hours before a mass shooting took place where 3 people were killed and 11 injured.

Since I learned about it this morning, I’ve imagined what it would have been like if I was still there a few hours later. Trying to find cover for my 2-year old daughter. Trying to make sure my pregnant wife was hidden behind a barrier. Covering my child with my body to protect her as bullets whiz by.

This is the traumatic world we live in.

It’s not something specific to cities, nor is it specific to suburbs or rural areas. It’s not just blue states and cities, it’s not just red states and towns. It is a society steeped in violence. It’s the product of poverty, unaddressed mental health issues, and profoundly easy access to deadly weapons. It’s exacerbated by wall-to-wall media coverage of the violence and hot takes by those on either side of the political divide. The fact that no meaningful action has happened since Sandy Hook means that all we’re left with is the reality that on any given day or night in America, it could be the last time your family sees you.

I wish it weren’t this way but it is.

So, for the public record, published on my channels, here’s what I’d like to say in case I ever die in a mass shooting…

• I don’t want you to focus on punishing the individual that killed me, I want you to focus on fixing the system that produced them.
• I don’t want you to offer my family your thoughts and prayers, I want you to get off your ass and make sure no one ever suffers as they are ever again.
• I don’t want you to focus on the political party of the location where I was killed, I want you to recognize that neither major political party has offered a single good solution or made any meaningful progress. So, rise up and don’t stop until at least one side does something.

I hope my life made at least one person want to become a superhero. To fight for a world built on kindness, trust, and safety. To train and grow with a commitment to use their abilities to make the world a better place.

Most importantly, I want my surviving family to know that I loved them more than anything.

…

We can do better, America. To be clear, that doesn’t mean giving more people guns. It means creating a world where going out for a burger, shopping for groceries, or going to school isn’t the sort of activity you need to be armed for.