Opinion: I'm a Downriver mom. I trust Kamala Harris to keep my kids safe at school.

I dropped off my absentee ballot this morning in my Downriver community. For the world my children live in today, and the world they will one day inherit, I proudly voted for Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump has continually precluded himself from receiving my vote. As a woman, his decades long list of sexual violence accusations , eventually being found liable of sexual assault by a jury of his peers, is disqualifying.

I am Mexican-American. My grandparents came to Detroit from Mexico in the 1950s. They took great pride in the work they did for their family and community, and they are all I think about when I hear Donald Trump’s disgraceful comments calling Mexican immigrants, “ drug dealers, criminals, rapists ."

Yet, in my most important and cherished role as “mother,” he and his political party stand in the way of combating the greatest danger our children face — gun violence.

Opinion: Trump takes a shot at Detroit, in Detroit. The joke's on him.

We have to act

I know that I’m not the only parent who drops their children off for school each day and tries to push away thoughts of the unimaginable. Who eventually recognizes the unspoken agreement we make with our overworked and underappreciated educators — asking them to potentially sacrifice their lives to save our children. There’s the catch in my throat when I receive a news alert of yet another active shooter at a school. I scan for the details — was it a college, high school, elementary school? Please let the body count be low. Is the gunman dead or captured? Please let it be far away from my community. The rage that rises when we learn details of yet another tragedy that could have been prevented — if only we had acted.

Trump famously told supporters, “ We have to get over it, ” no less than 36 hours after an Iowa shooting claimed the life of a sixth grader. He stood in front of the NRA and promised to reverse all gun safety rules enacted by the Biden Administration, “possibly on his first day” if he were to be reelected as president of the United States. Trump has not only promised to do nothing about our gun violence crisis, he’s repeatedly mused about authorizing the military to shoot his perceived political enemies. Even the assassination attempt on his life in July has not caused him to seek common sense solutions that have strong, bipartisan support.

Kamala Harris is the only candidate running for president of the United States that believes in the freedom of living without the fear of gun violence. She’ll support and help implement red flag laws that seek to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. She’ll work to require universal background checks so that illegal gun purchases are less likely to slip through the cracks. She’ll pursue a ban on assault weapons, mitigating the number of weapons of war that exist in our communities. Her administration will invest in law enforcement training and gun violence prevention programs that will make our streets and communities safer. As a gun owner herself, she understands that our right to bear arms must be balanced with responsibility and accountability to each other.

Opinion: Trump is no conservative. We’re Republican men and we’re voting for Kamala Harris

A safer world

In the short time we’ve been back to school this year, I’ve heard from other parents and grandparents who are also anxious about gun safety within our schools and community. There’s the grandmother who told me she goes home and cries her eyes out when she know there's an active shooter drill at school or the mom who also scans her surroundings at a local Target for quick exits when taking her kids to replenish the snack drawer for the week.

What trauma are we asking our children, educators, and families to endure because we’ve lacked political will and courage? What if our path to a safer tomorrow starts by being single issue voters for gun safety today? Every election, every seat, every race represents one more step towards a safer world for our children.

In this election, we have the opportunity to choose the future our children will demand of us. Did we make the world they will inherit from us safer? Did we let go of our oppressive apathy and dare to act? Let our first step be electing Kamala Harris as the 47th president of the United States.

Leah Bahr is a downriver mom. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we may publish it online and in print.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: I'm a Downriver mom. I trust Kamala Harris to keep my kids safe at school.