From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
Ten days ago, a man attached bump stocks to his firearms so they’d fire like machine guns. Then he used those firearms to rain bullets on a crowd of 22,000 people attending an open-air country music festival below his 32nd-floor hotel room. He killed 58 people and wounded more than 500.[1] It was the deadliest mass shooting in recent history and nothing short of an act of domestic terrorism.[2]
Until last week’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, bump stocks were obscure gun accessories. Now they are flying off store shelves.[3] Why? Because a proposal to ban them has emerged as Washington’s response to the Nevada gun violence, gathering support from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, with even the gun lobby signaling acquiescence.[4]
Banning bump stocks is a small step in the right direction. But it is NOT ENOUGH.
Join MomsRising at http://action.momsrising.org/sign/No2bumpstocks_and_more in demanding that Congress not only ban bump stocks, but also move forward gun safety policies like limiting military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Bump stocks enabled the Las Vegas gunman to mow down close to 600 people in a span of minutes, but even without these gun attachments, his semi-automatic weapons would have been able to discharge enough bullets rapidly enough for unprecedented carnage. Much more than the accessory, it was the guns that enabled the horrific level of violence.
Here are a couple of key facts:
- *Military-style assault weapons are used in the majority of mass shootings in America.[5]
- *The majority of mass shooters obtain their deadly weapons legally due to our lax laws.[6]
We need new laws, and banning bump stocks is a small step in the right direction. But such a ban would not excuse our elected leaders from taking strong action in response to the Las Vegas horror show of gun violence.
Enough is enough. In addition to action on bump stocks, we demand from our elected leaders real progress on gun safety, including banning military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines; passage of universal background checks on gun sales; and a full stop to the SHARE ACT that aims to deregulate silencers to disguise the sound of gunfire.
We reject the gun lobby’s false message that guns make people safer, because they don’t.[7] We reject its assertion that gun rights supersede all other rights, including the right for our families and communities to be safe and free from gun violence. Most of all, we reject the gun lobby’s efforts to normalize firearms in our daily lives by giving gun owners access to as many guns as they want, and insisting that they be permitted to bring them everywhere,[8] including restaurants, public parks, day care center, schools — and hotel rooms — so that the first thing a troubled person thinks to do is to reach for his firearms. We are not anti-gun, we are pro-gun safety. And we know you are too!
*Please forward this action link to those in your communities who want to lend a hand, and also post it on social media. The more of us who take action and speak out, the faster we can move gun safety policy forward and save lives.
{1] “At Least 58 Dead, More Than 500 Injured In Las Vegas Mass Shooting,” NPR.org, October 2, 2017.
[2] “The Las Vegas massacre was officially the worst mass shooting in modern US history,” Business Insider, October 2, 2017. [3] “Sales surge for bump stocks used by Vegas gunman,” New York Post, October 5, 2017. [4] “NRA support for restricting ‘bump stocks’ reflects impact of Las Vegas massacre,” Washington Post, October 5, 2017. [5] “Assault rifles are becoming mass shooters’ weapon of choice,” The Washington Post, June 12, 2016. [6] “How They Got Their Guns,” The New York Times, October 5, 2017. [7] “There’s scientific consensus on guns — and the NRA won’t like it,” LA Times, April 22, 2015. [8] “NRA executive director: Goal is guns everywhere, with no training mandate,” Arkansas Times, March 22, 2017.
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