From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
The University of Virginia. Club Q in Colorado Springs. The Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia.
That’s three horrific and heart-breaking mass shootings, one after the other in the space of days.
Over the Thanksgiving holidays, we were heartened that President Biden said he was “going to try to get rid of assault weapons” [1] during the upcoming lame-duck session. We completely support President Biden on this, because military-style semi-automatic assault rifles are the weapons of choice of the worst mass murderers, and there’s no good reason for civilians to own guns and high-capacity magazines designed for war. Banning assault weapons means we need a U.S. Senate vote on it as soon as possible, without delay.
Go to https://action.momsrising.org/sign/Assault_Weapons_Ban_Vote to tell U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that we need a Senate vote NOW on banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House voted on and passed a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, only to see the U.S. Senate decline to hold a vote.
According to the FBI, mass shootings (or “active shooter” events with more than three deaths) are happening with increasing regularity. The number of mass shootings in 2021 was 52% higher than 2020 and about double each of the three previous years. [2] In the United States, military-style semi-automatic assault weapons are used in the majority of mass shootings, [3] and the majority of mass shooters obtain their deadly weapons legally due to our lax laws. [4]
Meanwhile, our overall epidemic of gun violence, of which high-profile mass shootings are only a small fraction, continues to rise. In 2020, the last year with complete data, gun deaths exceeded 45,000, representing a 14% increase from the year before, a 25% increase from five years earlier, and a 43% increase from a decade prior. [5]
We need leadership from our elected representatives in order to rein in our rising gun violence epidemic. We need comprehensive reform, not just baby steps, and the opportunity right now is to move forward on banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We need to know where our leaders stand on something as outrageous and ridiculous as continuing to allow civilians to wield assault weapons on our streets and in our communities that were designed for war.
*Please forward this email to everyone you know who is concerned about gun violence, and ask them to sign too. The more of us who take action and speak out, the faster we can move gun safety policy forward and save lives.
We will never stop fighting for the safety of our families and communities.
References:
[1] “Biden says he will try to move on gun control during lame-duck session,” The Hill, November 24, 2022. [2] “US saw sharp rise in ‘active shooter’ incidents in 2021, FBI data shows,” The Guardian, May 25, 2022. [3] Mother Jones: A Guide to Mass Shootings in America. [4] Ibid. [5] “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” Pew Research Center, February 3, 2022.
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