Tuesday, May 31, 2022

There were 12 mass shootings this past weekend

Stopping school shootings and ending the epidemic of gun violence in America will not be easy. The NRA and the gun lobby have tremendous power in our country.

Dear MoveOn member,

Funerals begin today for the 19 children and two teachers massacred in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas. Two children, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, and Maite Rodríguez, 10, will be buried today in miniature coffins.1

Andra, we cannot look away.

Stopping school shootings and ending the epidemic of gun violence in America will not be easy. The NRA and the gun lobby have tremendous power in our country.

But let's be clear: Nothing will change unless we join together to build and sustain a movement to get weapons of war off of our streets and save lives.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey put it this way on Meet the Press on Sunday: "There has got to be more activism and engagement.... We are so out of step with the rest of the world. [The gun violence] we're talking about today does not happen in other countries, just here, because we tolerate it. And that's the question, is how much endurance do we have for horror and wretchedness, pain, and death, when we have the ability to change it, and we just need more people engaged?"2

He concluded, "We need people who are going to choose to do the hard work of organizing and galvanizing like the Civil Rights Movement, the Suffrage Movement, LGBTQ Movement, to save our children's lives. We have to have people get off the sidelines and get into the arena."

Andra, getting off the sidelines starts with holding the Republicans who are blocking commonsense gun laws accountable by defeating them at the polls this November. We cannot reelect the same GOP politicians year after year who prostrate themselves to the NRA and gun lobby and allow children to be massacred in their classrooms.

MoveOn is running the largest midterm election campaign in its history to do just that, but we need your help to get it done. Will you chip in $5 a month to power and sustain our campaign from now until Election Day?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

In the aftermath of Uvalde, the GOP has scrambled to point blame in every direction possible other than the laws they have fiercely supported that allow people to purchase guns more easily than allergy medication.

Greg Abbott blamed mental health, while at the same time cutting mental health services in Texas.3

Donald Trump wanted to drastically increase police presence across the country, even though the police were on site in Uvalde within seconds but waited more than an hour to enter the classrooms and stop the killing.4,5

And Ted Cruz suggested removing doors from school buildings and then fled from a reporter who asked him why mass shootings only happen in the United States.6,7

They will say and do anything to protect guns and the gun lobby that lines their pockets, and unless we prevent them from gaining control of Congress this fall and replace dangerous governors like Abbott, we will never be able to pass commonsense gun legislation and finally stop these tragedies from happening every week.

Throughout the summer and fall MoveOn will be running an unprecedented volunteer and voter outreach program across the country to find and energize the voters we need to win in November—particularly young voters and voters of color—but we won't be able to run it at scale without your support, Andra. Will you chip in $5 a month to defeat gun-crazed GOP politicians and elect Democrats who will finally pass gun safety legislation?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Over the last few years, America has allowed mass shootings to become our reality—but that does not have to be our future.

Sandy Hook was not normal.

Charleston was not normal.

Parkland was not normal.

Buffalo was not normal.

Uvalde was not normal.

Over the coming months, we can all take our collective grief, anger, and frustration and point it where it belongs: toward the politicians bought and sold by the NRA, who have proven over and over again that they care more about guns than about the people they serve.

Will you join us in this fight by chipping in $5 a month?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Together, we will win.

Thanks for all you do. 

–Justin, Liia, Cheryl, Allison, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1."Children's funerals begin in Uvalde; police chief won't be sworn into city council as planned: Latest updates," USA Today, May 31, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163119?t=8&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

2. "Meet the Press - May 29, 2022," NBC News, May 29, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163120?t=10&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

3. "Abbott calls Texas school shooting a mental health issue but cut state spending for it," NBC News, May 25, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163109?t=12&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

4. "'It's straight out of a playbook': At NRA convention, conspiracy theories abound," Politico, May 27, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163108?t=14&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

5. "Probe could shed light on police time lapse in Uvalde deaths," Politico, May 30, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163110?t=16&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

6. "Following the latest school shooting, Ted Cruz focuses on doors," Maddowblog, May 26, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163111?t=18&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

7. "British reporter presses Ted Cruz on why mass shootings only happen here," CNN, May 26, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/163112?t=20&akid=324623%2E53570607%2EZFeP97

 

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Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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