John–
I'm too emotional to write a lot, but I want to talk about how big of a deal this is.
Today, President Biden held an event at the White House celebrating the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, where lawmakers, survivors, and advocates joined him to recognize this historic victory for gun safety.
Standing there in the audience at the White House, I knew that every minute, every hour, and every night we spent working to make this happen was all worth it. I worked with leaders in Congress to put together this law and make sure it would save lives. And when the work was hard and the nights got long, I felt the supportive hands of survivors and victims on my shoulders, especially my cousin Laura.
This victory only happened because we were built for this moment and refused to let our lawmakers look away from the gun violence crisis. Whether it was holding rallies, delivering petitions, working with policymakers, or sending over one million messages to U.S. senators, we're here because of the power of our movement and the resilience of its almost 10 million members—an incredible grassroots network we built through 10 years of demanding action. We're here because our movement is stronger than the gun lobby's opposition to this live-saving bill.
Because of people like you, we have a lot to celebrate today. I can't thank you enough. But our work isn't over: Can I count on you to get the U.S. Senate to take action one more time?
We've already won once—let's do it again. Tell your U.S. senators to confirm Steve Dettelbach as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
As Everytown's federal legal director, I've worked with lawmakers and elected leaders for years to pass gun safety legislation that will save lives. At so many times it was an uphill battle as we navigated tragedies while dealing with continued inaction from the gun industry's allies in Congress.
But we never gave up—and now our country has a new major gun safety law for the first time in over 25 years. We will save lives.
That also means our next step is to make sure the federal government continues to do its job.
Our U.S. senators are currently considering Steve Dettelbach's nomination to lead the ATF. If confirmed, Dettelbach would help lead the federal government's main agency for enforcing our gun laws and holding rogue and reckless members of the gun industry accountable. We've worked closely with the Biden-Harris Administration on critically important executive actions to address all forms of gun violence, but we need Dettelbach to help us keep going.
With a new major gun safety law on the books, and with recent acts of gun violence devastating our communities, we need an ATF director who will put gun safety first. The vote could happen as early as tomorrow: Tell your U.S. senators to confirm Steve Dettelbach as ATF director NOW.
Today, we showed the world that our movement can get the action the vast majority of Americans have demanded for years.
So let's keep winning.
Rob Wilcox
He/Him/His
Federal Legal Director
Everytown for Gun Safety
