Local opinion: President Trump's $400 million ballroom response disgusts me

As a gunshot wound survivor of the deadliest mass shooting to date on U.S. soil, I once again find myself angry, disgusted and disappointed in President Trump’s response to the latest instance of gun violence in our country.

In the aftermath of a gunman attempting to open fire at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, President Trump and his allies are using this horrific incident as an opportunity to gain support for his $400 million ballroom.

President Trump immediately took to social media and other avenues to try and convince the American people that the nation needs a fortified ballroom on White House grounds so that the president and government officials are not in peril.

President Trump chose not to focus on the real issue, which is the epidemic of gun violence in our country and the steps that need to be taken to ensure all citizens can live without the fear of being executed by a gun-wielding assailant. Instead, he prioritized pushing his own selfish agenda of constructing a ballroom that only serves as a fortress for presidents and politicians.

If President Trump was truly a leader of our country, he would focus on what needs to be done to protect all of us, not just those of us who have risen to the ranks of receiving invitations to events hosted at a $400 million White House ballroom.

When I was shot in 2017 at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, President Trump was serving his first term. In the aftermath of that shooting 60 people were dead, and another 413 like myself suffered gunshot wounds. President Trump did not push to build a fortified concert venue that would protect innocent concertgoers from being in peril. Nor does he suggest building fortified schools after innocent children and teachers are slaughtered. He has not offered to build fortified grocery stores, shopping malls, churches or synagogues in the wake of tragedies that occur in these places.

It is absurd that we as a society allow President Trump to prioritize the lives of presidents and politicians over any other American. We are all citizens of this country, and we all have a right to be protected from the perils of gun violence. President Trump should not be allowed to only look after those whom he deems as significant enough in their status to rate an invite to the White House. He should be a president who is concerned about the well-being of all Americans.

$400 million ballrooms are not what is needed to make a difference in the gun violence problem we are facing in this country. It is time that we demand that President Trump and other politicians see gun violence for the public health epidemic that it is and pass common-sense gun laws that will protect all of us, not just the privileged few.