Friend,

It feels like every day in the news there’s a story about another mass shooting in another community. Loved ones are lost; family and friends are devastated. And after enduring a year-plus of lockdowns, illness, death, misinformation, polarization, fear and isolation, we’re seeing a surge in gun sales and gun violence.

Enough is enough. We must act.

Today, we’re asking you to call your representative at 888-879-2059 and demand that they pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act (H.R. 1446) to put commonsense gun violence prevention procedures in place.

Gun violence is not a predetermined fact of life that we must be prepared for—it is a consequence of decisions made by our elected leaders. By putting universal background checks in place, we can make sure people who shouldn’t have guns can’t purchase them. Passing these bills would help make our communities safer for everyone.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 4, is the seventh annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day. We’re asking you to call your lawmakers today at 888-879-2059 to urge them to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act,and to wear orange tomorrow to honor the loved ones we’ve lost to gun violence.

We cannot allow gun violence prevention to continue plaguing our lives. The AFT is proud to be a national partner for Wear Orange and to continue to fight for commonsense gun violence prevention policy. We encourage you and your community to join us in speaking out against this public health crisis.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT president

P.S. For more information on Wear Orange day, click here.