By Barbara Bartlein, RN, MSW

As Trump campaigns across the country, doting the desperate refugees south of the border as criminals, it is clear he does not understand women. Here is what he said this week.

“Women all across the nation are going to show up and vote Republican on Tuesday. They want security. They want safety,” Trump said at a Friday rally in West Virginia. “They don’t want to have these people coming in. They don’t want to have … some of these people are just horrible people. You have to see the crimes they’ve committed.”

He could not be more mistaken.  I am not worried about helpless children and families "invading" my community, I am worried about the shootings that happened across the street.  I have no concerns about more immigrants to this country, I am still in shock that my son was held up at gunpoint.  My worries are right here and they are very real.

Instead of a fabricated "crisis" at the border, I would like some of the real issues that affect my everyday life addressed, like safety from gun violence.  No one seems to be talking about this.  Though there was a mass shooting in my neighborhood, we have yet to establish reasonable gun laws to protect me and my family.  Though there is a mass shooting every week in the U.S., most with AK-15's, we have yet to ban that weapon.

No, Mr. Trump, I am not frightened by the very poor people looking for a better life.  I am terrified by elected officials who do nothing to make America safer from the gun violence.