John,

Monterey Park. Club Q. Uvalde.

These are just three of the recent mass shootings in the U.S., and what do they all have in common? Assault weapons.

Assault weapons are weapons of war that are designed to have sustained, high-power rapid fire shooting in order to shoot a large number of people in a very short period of time. When assault weapons are used in mass shootings, six times as many people are shot and more than twice the number of people are killed compared to shootings without an assault weapon.

These dangerous weapons have no place in our schools, grocery stores, nightclubs, or communities.

The federal Assault Weapons Ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004 reduced the risk of a person in the U.S. dying from a mass shooting by 70% compared to the periods before and after the ban. Both the number of deaths and the number of annual incidents decreased significantly. Congress’ failure to renew the ban in 2004 has led to horrific results — assault weapons accounted for 25% of deaths and 76% of nonfatal injuries in mass shootings between 2009 and 2018.

Congress must act responsibly and enact a federal assault weapons ban. If they fail to act, state legislatures must step in with a ban in their states. Earlier this month, Illinois joined 9 states and the District of Columbia in passing a ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons.¹

Your safety shouldn’t depend on the state or city you live in. Add your name to demand Congress pass a federal assault weapons ban now!

We started this year with multiple mass shootings. This isn’t normal or healthy for our communities or our country and it doesn’t have to be this way. By passing a federal assault weapons/large capacity magazines ban, we can significantly decrease violence in our communities and save at least hundreds of lives and many more from injury and trauma.

Congress can prevent needless deaths; it’s stunning that some in Congress are standing in the way.

Join us in calling on Congress to pass a new federal assault weapons ban to save countless lives.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/the-illinois-house-just-passed-a-sweeping-assault-weapons-ban-bill-heres-what-hb5855-says-and-what-happens-next/3038373/