Senator Elizabeth Warren & CREDO Action – 2018-02-19 00:05:45
Special to Environmentalists Against War
ACTION ALERT:
There Are Many Bills in Congress
To Reduce Gun Violence —
And The GOP Has Blocked Them All
Emma Gonzalez Gives Me Hope
Senator Elizabeth Warren
(February 18, 2018) — My oldest granddaughter is 16 years old. She’s smart, kind, and has a smile that lights up a room. And I don’t know how to look her in the eye and tell her that the people her Gammy works with still won’t do one single thing about guns to keep her safe at school.
I don’t know how to tell her that we’ve failed her.
But I’ll tell you what has given me hope: the students in Parkland, Florida. Days after watching their friends and teachers die in front of them, they have taken to the news, social media, and the streets to fight to be the last mass shooting victims in America. If the grown ups won’t act, they will.
If you haven’t already watched Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez, you need to watch her right now.
I wish that I could tell you that Congress was finally willing to do something about gun control after the shooting in Parkland. Democrats have bills to ban assault weapons:
* Bills to require universal background checks.
* Bills to prevent people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns.
* Bills to close the gun show loophole.
* Bills to ban bump stocks.
* Bills to fund Centers for Disease Control research on gun violence. We could vote on any of those pieces of legislation right now.
But the Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House — and the truth is, I’m not optimistic. Even after Sandy Hook, and even when kids die every day in deliberate shootings, accidental shootings, drive-by shootings, and random shootings, the Republicans have blocked even the tiniest gun reform laws to protect our children and communities.
And it’s so much worse than that. Just in December, the House of Representatives passed a pro-NRA bill that would force every state — even states like Massachusetts with tough gun laws — to recognize all concealed-carry gun permits issued by any other state.
It doesn’t have to stay that way. The moment that members of Congress fear for their jobs — the moment they realize that students, teachers, moms and dads, and concerned people all across the country will hold them accountable if they don’t pass stronger gun laws — that will be the moment that change will happen.
ACTION: So watch and share the powerful video of Parkland student Emma Gonzalez and join a group (or three) like:
Giffords Courage to End Gun Violence,
Everytown, or
The Brady Campaign.
Talk to your friends — even your Fox News-loving friends — about why common-sense gun reform isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue, it’s an American issue. It’s a moral issue. We can be more powerful than the NRA. We just need to fight for it.
ACTION ALERT Tell Republicans in Congress:
Thoughts and Prayers Are Not Enough
CREDO Action
The Petition to Republicans in Congress Reads:
“Put your constituents before the National Rifle Association. Take immediate action to ban weapons of war, including assault weapons and large capacity magazines, which have no place in the hands of private citizens.”
Within hours of Wednesday’s deadly mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school — which took the lives of at least 17 people — Republican politicians without the courage to support real solutions to our gun violence crisis released statements and social media posts offering their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. (1)
It was the exact same cowardly, ineffectual response they offered after gunmen wielding AR-15 assault rifles killed people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a concert in Las Vegas, Pulse nightclub in Orlando and Sandy Hook Elementary School. (2)
It is time for Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in standing up to the National Rifle Association and pass an assault weapons ban that will save American lives.
Tragic mass shootings like the one yesterday in South Florida have become all too common. The last 5 months alone now account for three of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history. (3) In the past 5 years, there have been nearly 300 school shootings in the United States (4) — including 17 so far in 2018 alone. (5)
According to Newsweek, “Florida has some of the weakest gun laws in the country.” Gun owners are not required to have a license, they are not required to register their guns and it is perfectly legal to own semi-automatic assault rifles like the one used in Wednesday’s tragic shooting. (6) The heartbreaking truth is that the combination of weak state and federal gun laws made Wednesday’s horrific attack possible.
There’s one reason why politicians consistently fail to take real action on gun violence: The National Rifle Association. The NRA has a chokehold on Congress that keeps most bills about gun control from even coming to the floor for a vote.
Politicians beholden to — or afraid of — the NRA are willing to turn their backs on their constituents when it comes time to implement reasonable limits and controls on guns. But you can count on them for a “heartbroken” tweet about their “thoughts and prayers” when a tragic shooting makes the national news.
Finally breaking the NRA’s chokehold on Congress will require massive grassroots pressure on our elected officials, demanding that they deliver more than thoughts and prayers in the face of our epidemic of gun violence.
We must forcefully demand that Congress takes immediate action to ban weapons of war, including assault weapons and large capacity magazines. Please add your name to our emergency petition now.
ACTION: Tell Republicans in Congress: Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need gun control now. Click here to sign the petition.
Thanks for everything you do,
Heidi Hess, Senior Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Notes
1. Ed Mazza, “People Sick Of ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ Demand Action After Florida School Shooting,” HuffPost, Feb. 15, 2018.
2. Igor Volsky, “Tweet,” Twitter, Feb. 14, 2018.
3. The New York Times, “Florida Shooting: Nikolas Cruz Is Charged With 17 Counts of Murder,” Feb. 15. 2018.
4. BBC News, “Florida shooting: ‘Policy and change’ not ‘thoughts and prayers,'” Feb. 15. 2018.
5. Meghan Keneally, “There have already been 18 school shootings in the US this year: Everytown,” ABC News, Feb. 14, 2018.
6. Chantal Da Silva, “Florida Massacre Survivor Tells Trump: ‘I Don’t Want Your Condolences,’ Demands Gun Control,” Newsweek, Feb. 15, 2018.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
