NO to gun glorification! Ban assault weapons now! TAKE ACTION

Dear Friend,

Yesterday, a gunman entered Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and shot to death three 9-year-olds and three educators. [1] It was the 13th school shooting of the year, and the 129th mass shooting of 2023. [2] Again, our hearts are broken. 

And again, the shooter used military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, the weapons of choice for mass murderers. [3] Still, firearms are the leading cause of death of children and adolescents in the United States. [4] This is unacceptable. 

Tell Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines now!

The number of mass shootings terrorizing communities every year is rising rapidly, from 417 in 2019 to 610 in 2021 to 647 in 2022. [5]  In the face of such horrific gun violence devastating families and communities for generations, no one should be glorifying guns, especially our elected leaders. [6]

There’s no starker example of gun glorification than the fact that assault weapons, designed  for war to kill as many human beings as possible as quickly as possible, are in wide civilian circulation. 

Tell Congress to stop the glorification of guns, starting with banning assault weapons and high-cap magazines.

Gun glorification tells everyone they should have a gun, clears the way for everyone to get a gun, and urges everyone – including those with a record of wanting to harm themselves or others – to pick up a gun to solve their problems, which is what tragically happened in Nashville. 

There’s nothing more important than the safety of our children, yet we continue to allow them to be put in the way of harm from gun glorification:

• Kids are harmed by the environment of “guns everywhere,” including – increasingly – in schools. [7]
• Kids are harmed by the constant reminder of guns in the news and from active shooter drills.
• Kids are harmed by language and policies that “otherizes” them, telling them that somehow they are different and don’t belong, which puts targets on their backs for bullying and worse, and “guns everywhere” increases the likelihood of resorting to violence as a solution.
• Kids are harmed by easy access to guns, especially in the middle of a youth mental health crisis, when youth suicide is on the rise. [8]
• Kids are harmed when scarce resources are invested in militarizing schools rather than in providing counseling services.

Tell Congress to stop the glorification of guns, starting with banning assault weapons and high-cap magazines.

America’s moms do not believe that guns are glorious - in fact, just the opposite. Guns bring injury and death. They wreak pain and trauma on families and communities over generations. 

In a country where there are more guns than people, and gun violence rates continue to climb, it’s long past time to reject and dismantle gun glorification!

* Please forward this email to everyone you know who is concerned about gun violence, and ask them to sign too. The more of us who take action and speak out, the faster we can dismantle gun glorification and open the way to getting the comprehensive gun policy reform we desperately need to keep our children safe!

Sign now to stop the gun glorification and urge a ban assault weapons and high-cap magazines!

We will never stop fighting for the safety of our families and communities.

In solidarity and love,

- Gloria, Jessica, Kristin, Kelsey, and the entire MomsRising/MamásConPoder team

References: 

[1] Joe Hernandez, “What we know about the deadly shooting at a Nashville elementary school,” NPR.org (March 28, 2023)
[2] “One nation, under gun violence: Nashville school shooting is America's 129th mass shooting in 2023 as nation is on course for the MOST mass shootings ever,” DailyMail.com (March 27, 2023)
[3] Scott Pelley, “What makes the AR-15 style rifle the weapon of choice for mass shooters?” CBSNews.com (May 29, 2022)
[4] “Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States,” New England Journal of Medicine (April 20, 2022)
[5] Janie Boschma, Curt Merrill, John Murphy-Teixidor, “Mass shootings in the US Fast Facts,” CNN.com (Jan. 24, 2023) 
[6] Katie Glueck, Azi Paybarah and Leah Askarinam, “In More Than 100 G.O.P. Midterm Ads This Year: Guns, Guns, Guns,” The New York Times (May 27, 2022)
[7] Sarah Mervosh, “Trained, Armed and Ready. To Teach Kindergarten,” The New York Times (August 5, 2022)
[8] Farzana Akkas, “Youth Suicide Risk Increased Over Past Decade,” Pew Charitable Trust (March 3, 2023)

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