This is an egregious and deadly decision, friend: On Friday, an extremist federal judge struck down a decades-old ban on assault weapons in California. As a Californian, I’m outraged, and as an American, I’m frightened for what’s to come.

This is the direct result of the gun lobby’s deadly agenda — the same one that ended the national ban on assault weapons and sent the number of mass shootings in our country soaring. The same agenda that pushed the Supreme Court to undermine concealed carry laws last summer in a decision that opened the door for renewed legal battles against common sense, lifesaving gun laws just like this.

If we are going to stop the gun lobby from systematically dismantling gun laws across the country, I need your help. I’m asking activists like you to speak out against this deadly decision today and demonstrate public support for banning assault weapons: Will you sign onto our urgent petition denouncing this move to end California’s assault weapons ban right now?

With last summer’s decision, the Supreme Court set a new standard for analyzing gun laws, requiring an historical precedent to prove the constitutionality of gun regulations. This precedent is what the federal judge used to strike down California’s assault weapons ban merely one month after using a similar argument to strike down the state’s high-capacity magazine ban.

Here’s the problem with this radical interpretation of the Second Amendment: There is no historical analog for an AR-15 – it’s a weapon of war designed in the 1950’s, never a glimmer of an idea in the eyes of the founding fathers. We cannot rely on archaic interpretations of laws to protect us from modern weaponry designed to rip through flesh and cause the most destruction possible in the least amount of minutes. 

The context that matters is this: Assault weapons bans save lives. When the national assault weapons ban ended, there was a staggering 183% increase in mass shootings. 155% more people are shot in instances where an assault weapon is used. Make no mistake, if upheld, this decision will put lives at risk. Weapons of war, designed for carnage, do not belong on our streets or in our communities. 

With yet another potentially dangerous Supreme Court decision comingand gun violence at record levels, we can’t stay silent in this moment. That’s why I’m reaching out to you now, friend. Will you sign onto Brady’s urgent petition denouncing this decision and proving that the majority of Americans want weapons of war off of our streets?

The gun lobby’s insidiousness cannot stand and we must fight together to end the scourge of gun violence in our nation. Thank you for taking action today. 

Tanya Schardt

Senior Counsel and Director of State and Federal Policy