Friends,

While solutions to the uniquely American crisis of mass shootings remain out of reach due to the pervasive influence of the NRA, a wholly corrupted and rogue Supreme Court, and a Democratic Party that does not seem to have the will to fight, the citizens of this country know what needs to be done.

We have to ban assault weapons. We have to ban these weapons of mass destruction that virtually any American over the age of 18 can get their hands on at a moment’s notice.

I am not interested in disingenuous arguments about how gun control won’t work because then only criminals will have guns. I am not interested in disingenuous arguments about what counts as an assault weapon. I am not interested in disingenuous arguments about how disarming the public is the first tool of fascists – we are already at the mercy of fascists. 

Like you, I am only interested in stopping the wholesale slaughter of this nation’s citizens by predominantly right-wing young white men.

When I am on the streets in my district talking to voters, reasonable people agree that nobody needs an AR-15. These are not tools for self-defense. They are weapons of war treated as toys – and they have devastating consequences.

In 1988, after the second death from the toy we know as ‘lawn darts’ occurred (the prior death being in 1970) the Consumer Products Safety Commission literally banned lawn darts. After 6100 injuries and 2 deaths, we said, ‘Nope, no more of that.’

But our lawmakers refuse to do the same with the public safety threat presented by AR-15s. Our lawmakers refuse to pursue reasonable and popular gun safety policies to prevent these mass shootings. Washington State has some of the tightest regulations on gun ownership, including universal background checks, and banning “ghost guns” and the sale of high capacity magazines - provisions that were taken directly from the Reasonable Firearms Controls resolution that I wrote with my platform team when I was chair of the Snohomish County Platform Committee. You should read the resolution. All of these policies are common sense and wildly popular – even with Republicans.

But on a national level, we are paralyzed by the influence of the gun lobby and the toxic gun culture created by the far right. And it’s no secret that the states with the highest rates of gun violence are the states with the most lax gun laws, and also the states where the NRA contributes the most money to politicians.

Our elected officials say they’re shocked by the violence every time a Highland Park, a Uvalde, a Buffalo happens.

I’m not shocked any more. I’m sad and angry, and I am determined to change it.

Democrats have stood by for decades while tens of thousands of Americans die from gun violence every year, and scores more are injured or traumatized. While the recent bills passed are a step forward, many meaningful, popular gun safety reforms were left on the table.

My record on gun safety is clear, and when I’m in Congress I will fight for incredibly popular reforms like universal background checks, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance.

The Second Amendment is a federal issue. These laws shouldn’t be left up to states. We need a federal ban on AR-15s, and if people want to use weapons of war, they can look to the second clause of the Second Amendment and go join a well-regulated militia. The only one I know of is the National Guard, and there’s one in every state.

I remember when George W Bush started banning journalists from photographing the coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan when they were brought back to the US for burial. He did that because he knew seeing those coffins, thousands upon thousands of them, would impact public sentiment against the war.

Perhaps it’s time we started seeing what AR-15 bullets do to human bodies.

Solidarity

Jason