Tell our Senators: We Marched for Our Lives - Pass Gun Reform Now!
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
Please keep the pressure on to pass Senator Murphy’s bipartisan gun reform package right away. And continue pressing with all the means at your disposal for stronger and more effective gun safety legislation. We Marched for Our Lives on June 11, and will be Voting for Our Lives in 2022.
Background
We need to keep the pressure on to get this framework passed right away. We don’t want this Murphy-Cornyn bill to become another Manchin-Toomey bill. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT in December 2012 had galvanized the public to call for action, Senator Manchin said he could craft a background checks bill that would surely get Republican support, but when the Manchin-Toomey bill was brought to the floor in April 2013, Republicans voted it down. It looks like Senator Murphy (D-CT) has learned that lesson by getting ten Republican Senators to sign on to the framework in advance.
We need continued public pressure to hold the Senators to their word. This new gun reform package will not put an end to gun violence, but it is an important step forward. Here are its components in more detail:
Providing major funding to help states pass and implement crisis intervention orders (red flag laws), which will allow law enforcement to temporarily take dangerous weapons away from people who pose a danger to others or themselves.
Including billions in new funding for mental health and school safety, including money for establishing community mental health clinics nationwide
Closing the “dating partner loophole” so that convicted domestic abusers can no longer continue to buy guns even if they weren’t married to their victims
Establishing the first federal law against gun trafficking and straw purchasing (buying a gun for someone who is not allowed to have one or doesn’t want their name associated with the purchase), which will help stop the flow of illegal guns into cities
Requiring an enhanced background check for gun buyers under the age of 21, and a short pause to conduct the check
Clarifying the laws regarding who needs to register as a licensed gun dealer, to make sure all truly commercial sellers are doing background checks
If you want to do more to advance gun safety in our country, a major part of the work of March for Our Lives is to get people to Vote for Our Lives. They spurred a historic increase in youth voter turnout in the 2018 midterms, and are determined to make gun safety a key issue in the 2022 midterms. Check out their Mission & Story in the references below and join them.
References
Mission & Story - March For Our Lives
'March for Our Lives' protests against gun violence sweep nation following hundreds of mass shootings, NBC News, 6/11/22
Senate negotiators announce framework deal on bipartisan gun package, 6/12/22
The Senate’s Gun “Deal” Won’t Stop Mass Shootings, The Nation, 6/14/22
Guns became leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020, NBC News
Senate Vote 97 - Defeats Manchin-Toomey Background Checks Proposal | Represent | ProPublica