Friends —

Here is the truth: the Odessa shooter had previously failed a criminal background check when trying to purchase a gun due to mental health reasons.

Yet loopholes in our nation’s gun laws allowed him to bypass the background check system altogether and obtain the AR-style weapon used in his deadly assault from an unlicensed seller who wasn’t required to run a background check.

That is the dangerous loophole in our laws that we are trying to close through H.R. 8, the universal background checks bill that passed the House earlier this year.

Yet Mitch McConnell still refuses to hold a vote. But you can tell the pressure is mounting, because he is using Trump as a shield to deflect blame from him and the members of his caucus.

So our job is to keep the pressure up.

To keep making our voices heard. And that starts with you:

Sign Giffords’ petition: tell Mitch McConnell it is time to debate and vote on the universal background checks bill that would have prevented the mass shooting in Odessa and Midland.

Universal background checks have the support of over 90 percent of Americans. The business community — including leading companies such as Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, TOMS Shoes, and Levi Strauss Co. — has urged lawmakers to take action to address our nation’s gun violence crisis. Our leaders must finally listen to the will of the American people and take action to address this epidemic.

All our best,

The team at Giffords

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