Dear John,

This week, 19 children and two teachers in Texas lost their lives at
the hands of another 18-year-old boy who should never have had access
to firearms. For years-as guns became the leading cause of death
for children and youth-CDF advocates and volunteers have pleaded
with elected officials to "Protect Children, Not Guns."
Over the last two weeks, our teams in New York and Texas, and those
preparing to serve thousands of scholars in CDF Freedom Schools®
classrooms across the country this summer, have been rocked by the
massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde. As a native Texan who lost a brother
in a mass murder thirty years ago, I weep in grief and anger at the
resistance of some and impotence of others to keep children and
families safe.
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In our collective moral outrage, the Children's Defense Fund and
our supporters call for the following actions:

* First, the United States Senate should ACT NOW to finally
appoint a permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms, a post which has lacked steady, secure leadership
since 2015.
* Second, Majority Leader Charles Schumer should schedule a Senate
vote on the Bipartisan Background Checks Act to expand federal
background checks and close loopholes in gun sales. While we
have a sense of how this vote will turnout, it is important to
get every United States senator on the record for accountability
in this tragic moment and election year.
* Finally, we invite all who love children and find comfort in
faith to pray earnestly for families impacted by these tragedies
and for ourselves. In our prayers, let us consider what it may
mean to take seriously the words shared in Jewish and Christian
traditions that we should "beat [our] swords into
plowshares" and "spears into pruning hooks."

In solidarity,

 

Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson 

President & CEO

Children's Defense Fund 

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