People of conscience have a choice. We can go numb, or we can demand action.
Numbness was overtaking me as the news of El Paso, then Dayton, then Chicago flooded the media. The needless deaths, lives cut short in split-seconds. The heroic mother and father. Hate assaulting the innocent.
But how can we let this wash over us and not try – once more – to do something that could save lives?
There is so much that is needed to heal us. We must confront the appalling fact that the President of the United States repeatedly incites white supremacists and stokes hatred, racism, and fear. He is tapping and emboldening dark forces. We can fight back, but we need to come together with a single-minded determination to change the law.
The House of Representatives has taken important first steps. They passed two background check bills with votes from Democrats and Republicans, each passing 240-190. One, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R.8), prohibits most person to person and gun show firearms transfers without a background check. The other, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 1112) would require a waiting period of at least 10 days for a completed background check before firearms dealers could proceed with a sale (up from the current 3 days). Now they languish as the Senate has recessed for August. We must come together to tell the Senate to get back here and protect people by changing the law.
We cannot pretend that these bills are a magic solution to all gun violence. But they are very likely to save lives. Leader McConnell should call the Senate back to pass these bills and send them to President Trump for his signature. Please use your single-minded determination and call your Senators right now to ask them to call for an emergency session and enact H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112, the bipartisan gun sales background check bills, and do not allow attempts to demonize individuals with mental illness and immigrants to derail this process. And call Majority Leader McConnell too, the Capitol Switchboard is at (202) 224-3121 – they’ll connect you to any Senator you ask for.
For the full Voices for Human Needs blog post on this matter, click here.
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