Last year, a gunman opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School and Church in south Minneapolis. The children and families who were there that day will never be the same. Neither will the doctors and nurses who tried to save them.

Dr. Trish Valusek, the lead trauma surgeon at Children's Minnesota who treated the Annunciation victims, has spoken publicly about what that day cost her. "I have had to hear the anguished scream of a mother when I told her that her child has died," she said. Nine months later, she says it still wakes her up at 3 in the morning. "That's what breaks my heart," Valusek said, "is that this was entirely preventable, and we knew that it was preventable and we didn't do anything to prevent it."

On May 12, 2026, 25 emergency room doctors, nurses, and technicians gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol to make that point as clearly as they could. One by one, they stood up — each representing a member of the team it takes to treat a single critically injured child. They are asking for one thing: let the assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban that already passed the Minnesota Senate come to the House floor for a vote.

The bill is there. The votes may be there. But right now, Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth and her caucus have given no indication they will allow it to move forward — and the legislative session is running out of time.

This is a call that they go on record, in front of their constituents and in front of the families of Annunciation, on whether or not Minnesota should ban the weapons used to kill children in a school.

The medical professionals who cared for those children are asking. The families who buried them are asking. Now we are asking too.

Speaker Demuth: bring this bill to the floor. Every Minnesota House member: show up and vote to protect the lives in our community.