The petition to Congress reads:
“The NRA is a dangerous extremist group. Its ‘guns everywhere’ agenda threatens public safety and makes it almost impossible to pass gun control legislation at the federal or state levels. No elected official should take its money.”
Add your name:
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The NRA is to blame for our epidemic of gun violence, but so are the politicians who do its bidding.
In the last 20 years, the NRA has donated more than $4.1 million to current members of Congress.1 It spent at least $55 million in the 2016 election cycle to advance not only its “guns everywhere” agenda, but right-wing Republican extremism more broadly.2 This financial power has kept most federal- or state-level bills about gun control from even getting a vote.
But since the Parkland shooting, the NRA has been under relentless scrutiny. Corporate partners have been abandoning the NRA in droves.3 And people all over the country have been publicizing and criticizing the amount of money their representatives have taken from the NRA. We need to keep that pressure on and demand that Congress break free from the NRA.
After every mass shooting, the NRA’s lackeys in Congress offer their thoughts and prayers for the victims and survivors, but then refuse to bring real gun control legislation to a vote. It’s happening again in the wake of the Parkland shooting. House Majority Leader Paul Ryan has indicated he has no plans to push for gun control in the House.4 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just put aside gun control legislation to make room to pass giveaways to big banks.5
These politicians often try to excuse their cowardice by saying there’s no evidence that gun control works. But a recent major study by RAND provides clear evidence that they are wrong and “reveals what a depraved dereliction of responsibility doing nothing yet again will really amount to.”6
Congress will continue to be derelict in its responsibilities if our representatives continue to be in the pocket of the NRA. Our friends at NoNRAMoney.org are working hard to get elected officials and candidates to pledge not to take the NRA’s money. But the NRA’s lackeys will not give up that money without a fight. At a CNN town hall after Parkland, survivor Cameron Kasky asked Florida Sen. Marco Rubio if he would stop taking NRA money. Rubio, to jeers from the audience, refused to do so.7 We need to amplify Kasky’s pressure across the country and demand that every elected official refuse to take the NRA’s blood money. Can you add your name today? Click the link below to sign the petition:
- Heidi Hess, CREDO Action
Add your name:
References:
#stopNRA
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Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2018
Tell Congress: Stop taking the NRA’s money
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Sign the petition: Block the NRA’s dream bill
Senate Democrats: Stop the NRA. Block concealed carry reciprocity
Tell Senate Democrats: “Block concealed carry reciprocity legislation that would undermine state laws that protect residents from gun violence.”
Add your name:
Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando. Whether it’s mass shootings or the appalling number of daily gun deaths, the National Rifle Association’s “guns everywhere” agenda is fueling an epidemic of gun violence in our country.
After each mass tragedy, Republicans offer their thoughts and prayers for the victims but show their blind allegiance to the NRA by refusing to act to keep their constituents safe. But now that Trump’s in the White House, they are going even further to help the NRA ramp up its extremist agenda on a national scale – with a reckless, dangerous bill to undermine gun safety laws across the country.
The right-wing Republican extremists in the House of Representatives recently passed the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) dream bill.1 The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would undermine state efforts to protect residents from gun violence and force every state to abide by the weakest gun laws in the country.
Now more than ever we need to do everything we can to stop the NRA. Republicans are so beholden to the NRA that they will do their bidding, but Democratic senators have the power to block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Can you add your name today to make sure they act as a firewall between our communities and the NRA’s extremism?
Tell Senate Democrats: Block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Click here to sign the petition.
Every state allows some kind of concealed carry, but 39 states require a gun owner to obtain a permit before publicly carrying concealed weapons in public.2 Some of those states require training before residents can get those permits. Some states block people who have committed violent crimes, domestic abusers, stalkers or people with mental illness that make them a danger to themselves or others from buying a gun or getting a concealed carry permit. Nearly every state restricts residents from carrying concealed weapons in places like schools, hospitals, government buildings or bars.3
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act uses the differences between states’ gun control laws to water down protections across the country. It forces states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by any other state, no matter how lax the state’s permitting standards are.4 It will encourage people, including domestic abusers, who cannot get a concealed carry license in one state to “permit shop:” applying in another state with weaker laws and bringing their gun back to the state where they live.5 A resident of a state whose legislature has stood up for public safety and passed gun control legislation would be no safer than a resident of a state whose legislature is in the pocket of the NRA.
Years of statistics prove that comprehensive state gun laws lead to fewer gun deaths, but the NRA wants to undermine public safety by advancing a reckless, dangerous policy like concealed carry reciprocity.6 Senate Democrats must use their power to reject the NRA’s extremism and block this deadly bill.
Tell Senate Democrats: Block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Click the link below to sign the petition:
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Senate_Concealed_Carry?t=7&akid=27312%2E3130208%2Ey_L0aP
Heidi Hess, CREDO Action
Add your name:
After each mass tragedy, Republicans offer their thoughts and prayers for the victims but show their blind allegiance to the NRA by refusing to act to keep their constituents safe. But now that Trump’s in the White House, they are going even further to help the NRA ramp up its extremist agenda on a national scale – with a reckless, dangerous bill to undermine gun safety laws across the country.
The right-wing Republican extremists in the House of Representatives recently passed the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) dream bill.1 The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would undermine state efforts to protect residents from gun violence and force every state to abide by the weakest gun laws in the country.
Now more than ever we need to do everything we can to stop the NRA. Republicans are so beholden to the NRA that they will do their bidding, but Democratic senators have the power to block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Can you add your name today to make sure they act as a firewall between our communities and the NRA’s extremism?
Tell Senate Democrats: Block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Click here to sign the petition.
Every state allows some kind of concealed carry, but 39 states require a gun owner to obtain a permit before publicly carrying concealed weapons in public.2 Some of those states require training before residents can get those permits. Some states block people who have committed violent crimes, domestic abusers, stalkers or people with mental illness that make them a danger to themselves or others from buying a gun or getting a concealed carry permit. Nearly every state restricts residents from carrying concealed weapons in places like schools, hospitals, government buildings or bars.3
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act uses the differences between states’ gun control laws to water down protections across the country. It forces states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by any other state, no matter how lax the state’s permitting standards are.4 It will encourage people, including domestic abusers, who cannot get a concealed carry license in one state to “permit shop:” applying in another state with weaker laws and bringing their gun back to the state where they live.5 A resident of a state whose legislature has stood up for public safety and passed gun control legislation would be no safer than a resident of a state whose legislature is in the pocket of the NRA.
Years of statistics prove that comprehensive state gun laws lead to fewer gun deaths, but the NRA wants to undermine public safety by advancing a reckless, dangerous policy like concealed carry reciprocity.6 Senate Democrats must use their power to reject the NRA’s extremism and block this deadly bill.
Tell Senate Democrats: Block the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Click the link below to sign the petition:
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Senate_Concealed_Carry?t=7&akid=27312%2E3130208%2Ey_L0aP
Heidi Hess, CREDO Action
Add your name:
References:
- Dana Liebelson, "One Month After Texas Church Shooting, House Republicans Vote To Expand Gun Rights," HuffPost, Dec. 6, 2017.
- Michele Gorman, “Guns in America: What is national concealed carry reciprocity?” Newsweek, April 10, 2017.
- Ibid.
- Everytown for Gun Safety, “Federally Mandated Concealed Carry Reciprocity," accessed Dec. 6, 2017.
- Polly Mosendz, "Get Ready for Concealed Guns in All 50 States," Bloomberg Politics, Nov. 30, 2017.
- Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, "2016 Gun Law State Scorecard,” accessed Dec. 6, 2017.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Tell Republicans in Congress: Thoughts and prayers are not enough
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| Detective Barbara J. Mattson with a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle |
The petition to Republicans in Congress reads:
“Put your constituents before the National Rifle Association. Take immediate action to ban weapons of war, including assault weapons and large capacity magazines, which have no place in the hands of private citizens.”
Add your name:
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Within hours of Wednesday’s deadly mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school – which took the lives of at least 17 people – Republican politicians without the courage to support real solutions to our gun violence crisis released statements and social media posts offering their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families.1
It was the exact same cowardly, ineffectual response they offered after gunmen wielding AR-15 assault rifles killed people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a concert in Las Vegas, Pulse nightclub in Orlando and Sandy Hook Elementary School.2
It is time for Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in standing up to the National Rifle Association and pass an assault weapons ban that will save American lives.
Tragic mass shootings like the one Wednesday in South Florida have become all too common. The last 5 months alone now account for three of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history.3 In the past 5 years, there have been nearly 300 school shootings in the United States4 – including 18 so far in 2018 alone.5
According to Newsweek, “Florida has some of the weakest gun laws in the country.” Gun owners are not required to have a license, they are not required to register their guns and it is perfectly legal to own semi-automatic assault rifles like the one used in Wednesday’s tragic shooting.6 The heartbreaking truth is that the combination of weak state and federal gun laws made Wednesday’s horrific attack possible.
There’s one reason why politicians consistently fail to take real action on gun violence: The National Rifle Association. The NRA has a chokehold on Congress that keeps most bills about gun control from even coming to the floor for a vote. Politicians beholden to – or afraid of – the NRA are willing to turn their backs on their constituents when it comes time to implement reasonable limits and controls on guns. But you can count on them for a “heartbroken” tweet about their “thoughts and prayers” when a tragic shooting makes the national news.
Finally breaking the NRA’s chokehold on Congress will require massive grassroots pressure on our elected officials, demanding that they deliver more than thoughts and prayers in the face of our epidemic of gun violence.
We must forcefully demand that Congress takes immediate action to ban weapons of war, including assault weapons and large capacity magazines. Please add your name to our emergency petition now.
Tell Republicans in Congress: Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need gun control now. Click the link below to sign the petition:
- Heidi Hess, CREDO Action
Add your name:
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Sunday, November 5, 2017
Tell Congress: Pass the Background Check Expansion Act
Within hours of Tuesday’s attack in New York City, Donald Trump and his extremist, racist colleagues in Congress were using the tragedy and demonizing the attacker to ramp up their campaign of fear and hate against Muslims and immigrants.
But after last month’s deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, Trump and his NRA-beholden colleagues were silent about the white gunman and tried to undermine any conversation about gun violence as “politicization” of the tragedy. Since then, they have not lifted a finger to slow down or stop our country’s gun violence epidemic.
Gun violence doesn’t stop when the media spotlight turns away from mass shootings: Nearly 900 people have been killed by guns since Vegas.1 Fortunately, gun control champions are using every means at their disposal to keep the pressure on Republicans. Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal just introduced the Background Check Expansion Act, which would require background checks for all gun sales.2
In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Bill, which required federally licensed gun retailers to run a background check for every gun purchase. Since then, Brady has prevented more than 3 million gun sales to people who are prohibited purchasers (because they have committed a felony or domestic abuse or have a mental illness that makes them a danger to themselves or others).3 Unfortunately, Brady does not apply to sales at gun shows and sales made through the internet.
It is a loophole with major consequences. While some states have tightened their background check laws, others only rely on Brady. In the states with tighter controls, only 26 percent of sales happen with no background check. In the others, more than 57 percent do.4 This discrepancy means that every state is subject to the weaker laws, since people can buy guns in states with weaker laws and bring them into states with stricter ones.
Sens. Murphy and Blumenthal have been trying to pass the Background Check Expansion Act and close the Brady loopholes at the federal level since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Americans, no matter their party affiliation, are consistently and overwhelmingly supportive of background checks.5 But the bill has not moved in Congress because the NRA fights any attempt to stop gun violence and has bought the allegiance of the Republican Party.
Sens. Murphy and Blumenthal know they face the same uphill fight this time around, but they are still demanding that their colleagues act. We can help build momentum to break the NRA’s lock on Congress by showing massive support for their bill.
Tell Congress to pass the Background Check Expansion Act. Click the link below to sign the petition:
- Heidi Hess, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Add your name:
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References:
1. Christopher Brennan, "Nearly 900 people dead in gun violence since Las Vegas massacre," New York Daily News, Oct. 25, 2017.
2. Ana Radelat, "Murphy introduces background-check gun bill as ‘long-haul strategy,'" The Connecticut Mirror, Oct. 25, 2017.
3. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, "Background checks," accessed Nov. 1, 2017.
4. Kate Masters and Lois Beckett, "Just one in five Americans obtains gun without background check, survey finds," The Guardian, Jan. 2, 2017.
5. Hannah Fingerhut, "5 facts about guns in the United States," Pew Research Center, Jan. 5, 2016.
2. Ana Radelat, "Murphy introduces background-check gun bill as ‘long-haul strategy,'" The Connecticut Mirror, Oct. 25, 2017.
3. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, "Background checks," accessed Nov. 1, 2017.
4. Kate Masters and Lois Beckett, "Just one in five Americans obtains gun without background check, survey finds," The Guardian, Jan. 2, 2017.
5. Hannah Fingerhut, "5 facts about guns in the United States," Pew Research Center, Jan. 5, 2016.
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