Dear MoveOn member,

It is with such heavy hearts and absolute outrage that we learn of another mass shooting in America. This one was committed by a neighbor armed with an AR-15 who senselessly murdered five people, including an eight-year-old, after he was asked to stop shooting a gun in his front yard because it was keeping their baby up.¹May they rest in peace.

This tragedy brings back to mind Representative Cori Bush's powerful words from earlier in April: "The people who will be killed in the next mass shooting are alive right now."²

Because we have come to expect that, in our country, there will always be another mass shooting—likely carried out with this very same weapon, the AR-15, a weapon that some Republicans wanted to name the "national firearm."³

We do not have to live this way, and we know exactly how to change it: with commonsense gun safety laws.

But right now, there are 18 House Republicans who stand in the way of protecting our schools, our places of worship, our grocery stores, our movie theaters, our concerts, our communities, and even our own homes.

There is a clear path forward to defeating these GOP obstructionists, and MoveOn has made the decision to go all in to ensure they lose in 2024, giving Democrats control of the House and the ability to pass gun legislation. We'll explain the plan below, but first we need to ask if you can chip in $3 to power this lifesaving work.

We call these members of Congress the Complicit Caucus: 18 Republicans who won their seats by narrow margins in 2022 in districts that President Biden won in 2020. During their campaigns, they all pretended to be moderates who would put their constituents over their party, but in their first 100 days in Congress, they have voted in lockstep with MAGA extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene 99.4% of the time.⁴ Some even donned AR-15 lapel pins to mock efforts at passing gun safety laws.⁵

These Republican representatives all represent purple and even blue districts—with constituents who overwhelmingly support commonsense gun laws—and if we can defeat just five of them, we will flip control of the House, paving the way for Democrats to not just pass gun safety laws, but also codify the right to an abortion, protect Social Security and Medicare, and do so much more.

So how are we going to defeat them? By doing what MoveOn does best: building grassroots power in each of these districts, led by MoveOn members themselves.

With your help, we are:

Identifying and training cohorts of volunteers in Complicit Caucus districts who will lead local efforts to host rallies, gain critically important local press coverage, educate constituents about their representative's lies, and, when the time comes, mobilize voters en masse to defeat them at the polls.
Running ads specifically targeting swing voters in these districts to highlight the far-right extremist positions taken by the Complicit Caucus. We are currently running ads about their vote on Kevin McCarthy's sham debt ceiling bill, which would gut education, repeal student loan forgiveness, kick millions of families off their health care, and even cut funding for cancer research.⁶
Plastering their districts with billboards and other highly visible reminders to voters that their representatives do not represent their interests. We are currently preparing to launch a new billboard campaign targeting the voting records of Complicit Caucus members when it comes to tackling gun violence.

This is the grassroots, shoe-leather work that is pivotal in building the power needed to defeat these candidates in 2024. Can you make a $3 gift to keep it going?

John, at the time of this writing, 14,071 lives have been lost in the U.S. to gun violence in 2023.⁷ Sadly, by the time you read this, that number will be higher.

And Americans across age, class, and political party are all aligned in calling for change.

A full 80% of Americans—including 71% of Republicans!—support universal background checks for all gun sales.⁸

And strong majorities support everything from banning assault weapons and extended magazines to red flag laws and raising taxes on ammunition.⁹

Every single day that the GOP-led Congress refuses to act, they are endangering our lives and violating the will of the voters, and it is far past time that they are held accountable for it.

MoveOn is working to ensure that happens, but as a member-led organization we can do it only with your support. Please, if you are able, click here and give a gift of $3 today.

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Elsie, Tzyh, Allison, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "5 dead in Texas 'execution-style' shooting, suspect armed with AR-15 is on the loose," ABC News, April 29, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172189?t=5&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

2. Tweet by Cori Bush, April 18, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172190?t=7&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

3. "GOP Rep. Barry Moore Wants AR-15 as 'National Gun of America,'" Newsweek, February 21, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172191?t=9&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

4. "Analysis: Swing District Republicans Vote in Lockstep with Marjorie Taylor Greene," MoveOn, April 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172128?t=11&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

5. "Why Some Members of Congress Are Wearing AR-15 Assault Rifle Pins," Time, February 7, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172192?t=12&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04'%20right%20to%20bear%20arms.

6. "What’s in the GOP bill to lift debt limit, cut spending," AP News, April 26, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172186?t=14&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

7. "Gun Violence Archive 2023," Gun Violence Archive, accessed May 2, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/52847?t=16&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

8. "After recent mass shootings, a majority of Americans desire stricter gun control laws," YouGov, February 1, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172193?t=18&akid=351140%2E40999114%2EHgul04

9. Ibid.

Want to support MoveOn's work? Voters just defied history and stopped a MAGA wave of extremism at the polls. But there is more work to do to end the filibuster, codify abortion rights into law, and defend our freedoms, our families, and our futures. We can accomplish all this and more, but only if we work together.

Will you chip in right now to power our critical work?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON POLITICAL ACTION, https://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. MoveOn Political Action - PO Box 96142, Washington, D.C. 20090-6142.

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