Hi,

[ [link removed] ]Will you sign the petition demanding stronger gun control laws now?

Americans make up 4.4 percent of the world’s population—but own 42% of the
guns.^1

Another mass shooting, this one in Indianapolis, shows the urgent need to
act. Ten people were shot dead while grocery shopping on a Monday
afternoon in Boulder. That was just days after a massacre in Atlanta
targeting Asian women massage workers left eight people dead.

The US has seen dozens of mass shootings in the last five years alone. In
most of these cases, the guns used were purchased legally through a
background check.^2 This is an epidemic of gun violence, and existing gun
laws have done nothing to curb it.

As long as the filibuster is in place, any gun control bill needs 60 votes
to pass the Senate—an extremely unlikely feat given the stubborn stance
Republicans like Mitch McConnell have long held against firearm
restrictions. Senate Democrats need to abolish the filibuster and pass gun
control legislation on their own. And we don't need another list of
victims to tell us why.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Senate Democrats must abolish the filibuster and
pass extensive gun control legislation now!

[ [link removed] ]ADD YOUR NAME

In early March, House Democrats passed two bills proposing to extend
background checks to all gun buyers and enforcing FBI vetting of those
flagged by the background check system. The bills were met with firm
opposition on the Senate floor, where Republicans insisted that gun
violence needs to be met with more policing, not tighter laws.

But recent polling shows that 71% of Americans—including half of
Republicans—support a ban on high capacity ammunition weapons.^3 In
addition to universal background checks, restrictions on those with
violent misdemeanor records, and red flag laws, reforms would crack down
on the increasing popularity of "ghost guns," which are effectively guns
sold as partial kits and thus don’t have to adhere to regulation and
background checks.

In the first months of 2021, more than 10,000 people have been murdered at
gunpoint. Last week, President Biden spoke out in support of targeting the
distribution of ghost guns and enforcing stronger gun regulation, calling
the US gun violence epidemic an "international embarrassment."^4

Now, we need the legislation. This message can’t be clearer than it is
right now: our current gun laws are failing, and Democrats need to pass
extensive restrictions on deadly weapons now.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Senate Democrats must abolish the filibuster and
pass extensive gun control legislation now!

Thanks for taking action,

Tara and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:
1. New York Times, "Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Mass Shootings?
Research Is Clear: Guns." [ [link removed] ]November 7, 2017.
2. New York Times, "How They Got Their Guns," [ [link removed] ]October 3, 2015.
3. Pew Research, "Stricter gun laws have gained support in US since 2017,"
[ [link removed] ]October 16, 2019.
4. New York Times, "Biden Takes Initial Steps to Address Gun Violence,"
[ [link removed] ]April 8, 2021.
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