I urge President Obama to ban firearm possession in America. He is the president of the United States. He can change the country. He can do it today. I believe in him.

I voted for Barack Obama. Twice. During his 2008 presidential campaign, my two daughters, partner, and I ate every meal in our house on Obama placemats. We bought these at our local supermarket, plastic-coated, plate-sized paper rectangles with an image of his face framed by colors of the flag. While politically minded, I am not overly patriotic, so this mealtime ritual of American allegiance was odd for me. Still, we looked at the image of his face each day and we believed that he really could be the change in America.

As Obama’s 2012 campaign approached, I was a little jaded. Some of his promises to our country did not come true, and I was anxious about rising social tensions he and his administration faced. Racial inequality plagued the news, gender-based violence grew in global proportion, and women’s reproductive freedoms had become increasingly vulnerable.