Ask Congress to pass sensible gun laws to end gun violence in our nation.
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Printable Newtown Action Alliance Postcards to Congress
We hand-delivered the following Gun Violence Prevention (GVP) coalition letter to all members of Congress on the 4th anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy on December 14th and 15th, 2016. This letter explains why we need Congress to pass the four federal legislative measures.
-Newtown Action Alliance
December 14, 2016
Dear Senator or Representative _______:
December 14, 2016 is the four-year anniversary date of the devastating Sandy Hook shootings. We continue to mourn the senseless loss of 20 innocent children and their educators on December 14, 2012. We also mourn the loss of 120,000 other Americans who have been killed with guns since that tragic day.
The brutal shootings of 20 children and six educators should have been enough for Congress to take swift action to reduce gun violence. It is tragic and shameful that the House of Representatives has not yet voted on a gun violence prevention (GVP) bill and the Senate has rejected the GVP bills three times in the last four years. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) bipartisan Senate Amendment 715 to S.649 to require background checks on gun sales, was defeated 54-46 on April 17, 2013 after the Sandy Hook shooting and defeated once again by 50-48 margin on December 3, 2015, the day after the San Bernardino shooting. Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) Amendment 4750 to H.R.2578 to require background checks on sale of all guns, was also defeated 55-44 on June 20, 2016 after the senseless Orlando Pulse Night Club shooting.
Annually, over 33,000 Americans die from gunshots and another 80,000 American are getting injured by gunshots. Congress has shamefully done nothing to close the dangerous loopholes in our nation’s gun laws to keep Americans safe from gun violence.
We are a coalition of families of victims, survivors, and gun violence prevention groups from across this great nation representing over 22 million supporters from every state and we are collectively imploring you to support the following bills to end gun violence in our nation:
CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES & EXPAND BACKGROUND CHECKS TO THE SALE OF ALL GUNS:
Senate: Re-introduce, vote on, and support Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) Senate Amendment 4750 to H.R.2578, which is the text language from Senator Charles Schumer’s bill, S.2934, “to ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale”.
House: Cosponsor, vote on, and support companion language such as Rep. Jackie Speier’s (D-CA 14th District) Bill from the 114th Congress: H.R. 3411: the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015.
For more information on why an expanded federal background check bill should be supported: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/BackgroundChecks-factsheet3.pdf
According to Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, “Background checks keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people like felons, domestic abusers, and the severely mentally ill. According to FBI data, the Brady Law has blocked more than 3.0 million gun sales to prohibited people since it went into effect in 1994.”
Numerous polls consistently demonstrate that more than 90% of Americans support universal background checks.
BAN ASSAULT RIFLES AND HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES:
Senate: Introduce, vote on, and support a Senate companion to Representative David Ciciline’s (D-RI 1st District) bill H.R. 4269 to ban assault weapons and limit high capacity magazines.
House: Cosponsor, vote on, and support reintroduction of Representative David Cicilline bill H.R. 4269 to ban assault weapons and limit high capacity magazines.
REPEAL THE 2005 PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT (PLCAA):
Senate: Cosponsor, vote on, and support reintroduction of legislation like Senators Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) bill in the 114th Congress, S. 2469 – A bill to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to eliminate the special legal protection that shields the firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. For the last decade, PLCAA has provided the corporate gun industry special legal protection that is not enjoyed by any other industry in America.
House: Cosponsor, vote on, and support reintroduction of companion legislation by Rep. Adam Schiff, [D-CA-28] of H.R.4399 – Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act.
For more information on the harmful effects of PLCAA: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/guns-crime/report/2016/01/15/128949/immunizing-the-gun- industry-the-harmful-effect-of-the-protection-of-lawful-commerce-in-arms-act/
ALLOW THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), AS WELL AS OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES, TO AGGRESSIVELY CONDUCT RESEARCH ON GUN VIOLENCEPREVENTION:
Dedicate funding for the CDC to support gun violence prevention research and begin to reverse the chilling effect caused by the Appropriations amendment first authored by Rep. Jay Dickey (R-AR) in 1996, also referred to as the Dickey Rider, which continues to practically limit the CDC and other federal agencies from directing public funding toward reducing gun injuries and deaths in America in any significant way equal to the challenge by taking a public health approach to studying it.
For more information on why gun violence research should be encouraged and funded without such destructive appropriations riders, go to: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/guns- crime/report/2016/03/09/132894/removing-barriers-and-reinvesting-in-public-health-research-on-gun- violence/
It is past time for Congress to do its job to keep all Americans safe from gun injuries and death. We demand a vote on these common sense measures to end gun violence in our nation.
Sincerely,
Newtown Action Alliance
A New Routine for America
African American Ministers In Action (AAMIA)
All Saints Church Pasadena Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
Alliance of Baptists
American Federation of Teachers
American Humanist Association
American Nurses Association
Amnesty International USA
Arizonans for Gun Safety
Battle Born Progress
Bergen County Brady Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March Campaign to Unload
Ceasefire Oregon
CeaseFire Pennsylvania
Center of Concern
CHICAGO SURVIVORS
Children’s Firearm Safety Alliance
Christopher Hale
Coalition Against Gun Violence, a Santa Barbara County Coalition
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
CODEPINK
Colorado Ceasefire
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
CT Against Gun Violence
Disciples Home Missions, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Every Child Matters
Families4peace
Fig Tree Revolution
Franciscan Action Network
Franciscan Peace Center
Friends Against Violence Everywhere
GAYS AGAINST GUNS
Georgians for Gun Safety
Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan Community Churches
Greenwich Council Against Gun Violence
Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership
GunControlToday
Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence
Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence
Iowa Conference United Methodist Women
Iowans for Gun Safety
Islamic Society of North America
Jessi’s Message
Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN)
Joint Action Committee
JPIC Committee of the Sisters of St. Francis
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
LGBTQ4GVP
Maine Gun Safety Coalition
Marylander to Prevent Gun Violence
Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
Mennonite Central Committee, U.S. Washington Office
MomsRising
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Cathedral Gun Violence Prevention Group
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Council of Churches
National Domestic Violence Hotline
National Education Association
National Gun Victims Action Council
National Physicians Alliance
Nebraskans Against Gun Violence
NETWORK
New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
North Carolinians Against Gun Violence
Northern Virginia Brady Campaign
Northwest Corner Committee for Gun Violence Prevention
One Pulse for America
Pride Fund to End Gun Violence
Progressive Congress Action Fund
Protect Minnesota
Protest Easy Guns
Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbis Against Gun Violence
Reston-Herndon Alliance To End Gun Violence
Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence
Safe Campus Colorado
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas’ Institute Justice Team
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas’ Institute Justice Team
States United to Prevent Gun Violence
Stop Handgun Violence
Stop Killing Innocent People (SKIP)
Tampa Bay Center for Community Transformation
Team 26, Inc.
The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus
The Connecticut Effect
The Safe Tennessee Project
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association, Multicultural Growth & Witness United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church
Utah Parents Against Gun Violence
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Vision Quilt
WAVE Educational Fund
Women Against Gun Violence
Women’s Law Project
Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice