“E Pluribus Unum. We welcome all those who believe in liberty and justice for all.”

We must not let the terrorists win. We must be vigilant, of course, and protect our public spaces. Particularly where crowds gather, we must always have lots of police present and concrete barriers and metal detectors wherever possible. And I myself introduced a bill — rejected by the Republicans of the Virginia General Assembly — to deny all known and suspected terrorists the right to buy firearms. I intend to introduce such a bill again next year (with due process rights for those denied to avoid cases of mistaken identity).

Our hearts go out to France, America’s first ally. We stand with the French People and cry with them. But we also must stay resolute. We cannot let this attack cause Americans or the West to retreat in fear or be reduced to hatred.

Those who want to kill come from every religion, ethnicity, and race. Some are anti-American, some are anti-black, some are Islamist, some are anti-police, some are anti-gay, some are anti-Jewish, some are anti-abortion, and many — far too many — are seriously mentally ill.

The best way to fight terrorism in America, in addition to denying killers weapons and avenues of attack, is to embrace the multiculturalism that lets every American and every immigrant know we welcome them. We have never been a country of one race, culture, language, or religion. E Pluribus Unum. We welcome all those who believe in liberty and justice for all.

This acceptance and joyous celebration of diversity, I believe, is a good in and of itself. But it has the added bonus of dampening down the kinds of hatreds that too often lead to terrorist attack.