As We Grieve, We Must Demand Action

Stores. Schools. Movie theaters, Concerts. Clubs. Everyday places turned into scenes of death and tragedy.

We are facing a twin crisis: mass shootings and a frightening resurrgence in white supremacist violence.  Just this year, there have been 255 mass shootings in the U.S. Deadly hate crimes rose for the fourth year in a row. As we grieve, we demand action. 

The killer behind the shooting spree in El Paso proudly proclaimed that he was responding to the “invasion” of Texas just months after President Trump joked about shooting immigrants at a rally. This white supermacist domestic terrorism is fueled by the same hateful ideology that was behind attacks on the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, African Americans in Charleston, Muslims in New Zealand and Sikhs in Wisconsin.  

Trump and the GOP did not create it, but they have used this hateful ideology to gain power and divide our country.  

We demand action to make our communities safer and keep weapons of mass murder off our streets.  The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed two common-sense gun safety bills, but the GOP-controlled Senate has refused to even consider these bills. 

Mitch McConnell must bring the Senate back to Washington and pass H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act mandating a universal background check on all firearm purchases, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act to close the dangerous Charleston loophole.  These bills are critical first steps towards common sense gun safety protections. And we should reinstate the assault weapons ban. 

We are living through the horror of more than one mass shooting every single day. We owe it to ourselves and the families whose lives have been forever changed by gun violence to demand action.