John,

Guns and hate are a toxic combination. Guns and mental illness are a recipe for tragedy. Guns in the hands of those who would do harm is an inevitable invitation to devastation.

All around this country, good people from all across the political spectrum—many even responsible gun owners themselves—are calling out in grief, fear, sorrow and anger. There is enormous bipartisan demand for action, and Americans know we are long past the point when Congress should be debating, posturing and waiting it out.

It's time for our lawmakers to step up and deliver concrete, meaningful gun safety measures that the majority of Americans support. And this Saturday, we need you to add your voice to the chorus and your person to the crowd. Click here to learn more about events in your area.

As the people who care for your kids and your community in the classroom, the school, the hospital and clinic, and the offices that serve the public, the AFT has always been in the business of trying to make your lives better. We educate your children. We nurture the ambitions and dreams of our youth. We tend to and care for the sick. We find solutions for our communities. And for years, our union has worked to keep schools, streets and communities safe from the public health crisis that is gun violence in America. Today, job No. 1 is saving lives.

If we've said it once, we’ve said it a million times: We care, we fight and we show up. And now, I am asking you to show up with us. This Saturday, June 11, the AFT is partnering with the students of March for Our Lives to demand our lawmakers take action now to end gun violence in our communities. Click here to find an event near you.

Look. We know it’s not easy. There are powerful forces like the NRA telling senators that the solution is more guns—and more profit. But people are waking up.

Many of us are tired and feel defeated. But we don’t get to give up. So many have lost so much—names we might not know yet, but whose families will never forget. Buffalo. Uvalde. The Atlanta spa. Philadelphia. Tulsa. Parkland. Sandy Hook. The list is long, but it must not be endless. Not one more student, not one more educator, not one more grandmother shopping for groceries, not one more parishioner attending a service, not one more kid hanging out with friends, and not one more community should be ravaged because those in power refuse to do their jobs.

We don’t have to live this way. In lots of other places in the world, there is hate, mental illness and malevolence. When Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and others experienced the horror of a mass shooting, they passed gun safety laws. and the massacres stopped. We could do the same right now. As a country, we’ve prioritized safety again and again. We’ve done it for airlines, for motor vehicles, for tobacco, even for mattresses! So why can't we have safety when it comes to guns? What can be more important than saving people’s lives.

There are things we can do. We need your help.

On Saturday, join the AFT, March for Our Lives, gun violence survivors, parents, students, faith leaders, responsible gun owners, community leaders and everyone calling for gun safety, and make sure our elected leaders hear us before it’s too late. Click here to find an event near you.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President

P.S. We're also asking people to write to their lawmakers and make sure they get the message. Click here to send a letter to your senators and demand they work to end gun violence now.