John,

Valentine's Day is usually associated with being a day of love. But for the past few years in the U.S., it has been associated with unnecessary tragedy due to gun violence.

On February 14, 2024 armed gunmen opened fire at the Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, injuring 22 — including 11 children — and killing one woman.¹ That tragedy was compounded by the fact that February 14th was also the sixth year anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people, most of them students.²

Neither of these events had to happen. Mass shootings are an epidemic that can and must be prevented, and Congress can start by banning assault weapons.

The U.S. had a federal assault weapons ban that was in place—with bipartisan support—from 1994 to 2004, when it was allowed to expire. The risk of a person in the U.S. dying in a mass shooting was 70% lower during those 10 years the ban was in place.³ Both the number of deaths and the number of annual incidents decreased significantly. Congress’ failure to renew the ban in 2004 has led to horrific results — assault weapons accounted for 25% of deaths and 76% of nonfatal injuries in mass shootings between 2009 and 2018.⁴

Enough is enough. Too many people in the U.S. are senselessly gunned down while going to the grocery store, going to school, and in places of worship. Congress must act now to pass a federal assault weapons ban. Sign now to take action!

Assault weapons—like those once restricted by the ban—were used in most of the horrific massacres including at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT in 2012, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL in 2018 and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX in 2022. With easy access to military-style semi-automatic assault weapons and high capacity magazines, too many individuals have filled our schools, malls, concerts, movie theaters, places of worship, stores, parades, and other public spaces with terror, devastation, and terrible loss.

In order to save lives and stop the carnage, Congress must enact a federal assault weapons ban.

Add your name to demand Congress pass a federal assault weapons ban now.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Biden renews gun control plea after 22 shot in Kansas City - as it happened
² Florida Democrat says Kansas City shooting ‘horrific,’ but especially so on sixth anniversary of Parkland
³ Did the assault weapons ban of 1994 bring down mass shootings? Here’s what the data tells us
⁴ Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence