Vow to hold elected leaders accountable in the coming elections
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION

Dear Friend,

[ [link removed] ]I’m not asking you to sign a petition. I’m asking you to join me in
taking a solemn vow to hold accountable those elected leaders who have
utterly failed to keep our children and communities safe from gun
violence. 

Last night, my body was numb as I watched the news coming out of Uvalde,
Texas, where an 18-year-old opened fire in Robb Elementary School. By the
time I went to bed, the death count had risen to 20, 18 of them children.
[1]

We’ve seen this before at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, when a
murderer shot and killed 20 second graders and six educators. [ [link removed] ] We just
saw this in the recent terrorist attack at a Buffalo grocery store  –
motivated by vile white supremacy, racism and hate – where 10 people were
shot to death. [ [link removed] ] Each school and mass shooting devastates families and
communities in their wake, and they're happening with increasing
regularity. In 2022 alone, there had already been 27 school shootings –
and over 200 mass shootings where four or more people were injured or
killed – before Uvalde. [ [link removed] ]

Over the last 10 years since Sandy Hook, while students, parents and
community members have pushed key lawmakers to help fix our broken nation,
change has not been happening soon enough. The gun lobby continues to have
an oversized reach, the Republicans have embraced a deadly “guns
everywhere” culture, and we are losing the community safety we need and
deserve. We can’t even get stronger background checks on gun sales, which
90% of voters support. [ [link removed] ]

[2]I am shaking with anger, and vow I will hold accountable in the coming
elections those leaders who have failed to protect our children and
communities. Join me.

It's intolerable that our children aren't safe in their schools. It’s
reprehensible that our freedoms – including the freedom of our children to
grow into healthy adults – are being taken away by our “guns & high
capacity magazines everywhere” culture. 

We need comprehensive gun policy reform, including stronger background
checks and banning assault rifles and high-capacity weapons. But we will
never get it unless we begin dismantling the extreme gun culture we have
today, starting with voting out elected leaders in thrall to the gun
lobby.

A majority of Republicans in office have not only so far blocked policy
solutions to our gun violence epidemic, but have enthusiastically helped
build the “guns everywhere” society. They are among the loudest voices
touting individual gun rights – fake “rights” bought and paid for and
meticulously constructed over the last 40 years by gun manufacturers and
the gun lobby, like the NRA. [ [link removed] ] Furthermore, the gun lobby, aided by
Republican leaders, has been methodically dismantling the few flimsy
barriers that existed to guard against dangerous gun ownership, making the
gun market a free-for-all in many states. In fact, less than a year ago,
Texas Governor Abbott – the very one now sending thoughts and prayers to
Texans in Uvalde – signed into law “permitless carry,” which eliminated
licensing and training requirements for people to carry around handguns.
[ [link removed] ] Permitless carry has been passed in 25 states. [ [link removed] ]

Elected leaders like Republican Governor Abbott have helped flood our
communities with lethal firearms, and built a gun culture that encourages
too many whose first thought is to reach for firearms as the solution to
any problem. With more than 400,000,000 guns in circulation, [ [link removed] ] we have
more guns than people in this country. And, as we have seen over and over
again, there are all too many men, including the Uvalde shooter, ready to
use those guns to harm people – in schools, grocery stores, places of
worship, public parks, and other everyday places where people are just
living their lives. Because of the actions of elected leaders like
Republican Governor Abbott, we are a country swimming in guns, with record
numbers of gun deaths and injuries that continue to climb, with no end in
sight. [ [link removed] ]

[3]Join me now in vowing to hold those elected leaders accountable in the
coming elections who are utterly failing to protect our children and
communities from gun violence. 

What does holding them accountable mean? It means I will watch what
lawmakers are doing (or not doing) to protect our children and
communities, and remember if they vote to stop high capacity magazines,
advance effective background checks, and work for community safety  – and
then I will cast my ballot accordingly this November. It also means I will
make phone calls, send text messages, knock on doors, and mobilize as many
voters as possible who feel as I do to begin taking power away from those
leaders who do not adequately represent us or protect us from harm, and
replace them with leaders who do. 

“Guns everywhere” has not made us safer. In fact, just the opposite. “Guns
everywhere” is killing our children and destroying our families and
communities. This is not the Second Amendment right envisioned by the
Founding Fathers. This is not how we build a more perfect union. This is
how we destroy our union from the inside out.

Exacting accountability starts now. Mobilizing starts now. [4]Click here
to join me and take the vow too – and then forward this message to
everyone you know who is shaking with anger about those elected leaders
who are utterly failing to protect our children and communities from gun
violence. Ask them to sign on and take the vow too.

We’ll never stop fighting for the safety of our families and loved ones.
Together, we can take away the power of useless lawmakers in the thrall of
the gun lobby, replace them with lawmakers who protect us and our
children, and dismantle the extreme “guns everywhere” culture.

– Gloria, Kristin, Nate, Ruth, Xochitl, Donna, Monifa, and the entire
MomsRising/MamásConPoder team

 

*Pol. Adv. paid for by MomsRising Together.

 

[1] “[5]19 children, 2 teachers killed in Texas elementary school
shooting,” NBCNews.com, May 25, 2022.

[2] “[6]Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,” Wikipedia.

[3] “[7]Gunman Kills 10 at Buffalo Supermarket in Racist Attack,” The New
York Times, May 14, 2022.

[4] “[8]27 school shootings have taken place so far this year,” NPR.org,
May 25, 2022.

[5] “[9]90 percent of Americans "support universal background checks" for
gun purchases,” Oct. 2, 2017.  

[6] “[10]How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment,” Brennan Center for
Justice.

[7] “[ [link removed] ]Texans can carry handguns without a license or training starting
Sept. 1, after Gov. Greg Abbott signs permitless carry bill into law,”
June 16, 2021.

[8] “[ [link removed] ]Frequently Asked Questions About Permitless Carry,” Center for
American Progress, May 2, 2022.

[9] “[ [link removed] ]U.S. Gun Production Triples Since 2000, Fueled by Handgun
Purchases,” The New York Times, May 17, 2022.

[10] “[ [link removed] ]What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” Feb. 3, 2022.


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