John,

Once more we were witnesses to shocking violence as a man with an assault rifle injured former President Donald Trump, killed Corey Comperatore, and sent David Dutch and James Copenhaver to the hospital with serious injuries. We mourn the death of Mr. Comperatore and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured.

We are a nation prey to resentment and blame and awash in guns―a lethal combination.  

Gun violence in the United States is an epidemic. In 2023, the U.S. had over 440 mass shootings.[1] The number of children and teenagers killed by gun violence in the U.S. increased by 50% from 2019 to 2021, with homicides involving guns accounting for 60% of all deaths among children and teens in 2021.[2]

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a regulation that had classified semi automatic rifles with bump stocks as machine guns, a rule that was established following the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting in which the shooter used a bump stock to kill 60 people and wound 500 more in a matter of minutes.

Bump stocks are devices that allow ordinary semiautomatic weapons that can be legally owned by civilians to automatically fire just like a machine gun. They allow a gun to fire a continuous stream of bullets at a rate of up to 800 rounds per minute with one pull of the trigger.

These guns are weapons of war and have no place in civilian life. After the events of this weekend, Congress must do everything in its power to pass a ban on bump stocks, which have been shown to cause mass devastation. It’s one of several forms of super-lethal weapons―let’s tell Congress to take at least this one step forward now.

It is the challenge of our time to use our democracy to find real solutions to our problems. We must come together to reject resentment, blame, and hatred. We must use our democratic tools to seek solutions, to build upon the progress we have made and to commit to helping more to share in that progress.

Using the tools of our democracy―voting, petitioning leaders and legislators, or standing for election―can and should focus on making health care and housing more affordable, expanding economic security and freedom, reducing poverty, protecting against climate threats, and reducing gun violence.

These and a host of other problems can only be solved when we commit to democracy and reject violence. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us; we must not fail.

We acknowledge that banning bump stocks is far from all we need, but it would be a major step and a positive action by Congress to reduce wanton violence. Please add your name to join us in calling on Congress to ban bump stocks now.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

[1] Gun Violence Archive
[2] Gun deaths among U.S. children and teens rose 50% in two years