“Yes, people pull the trigger. But, guns are the instruments of death.”

— Eliot Spitzer

Everyone should be able to go to school, work, or to run errands and not be afraid for their lives. But with the outrageous gun laws in our country that cater to the extremist gun lobby and the politicians they fund, that is tragically not the case. As of the writing of this email, there has only been one day this month without a mass shooting.

Enough is enough. Enough with the daily mass shootings, enough with the easy access to high-caliber weapons, enough with the legislators who are unwilling to take action. Enough with the horror stories like we’ve recently seen in Buffalo, Uvalde, and El Paso.

We are tired. We are tired of the policy failures that lead to people being murdered by a white supremacist while they buy groceries for their families and to children and teachers being brutally murdered in their classrooms. We are tired of politicians who think “thoughts and prayers” are enough.

It is time to end this horror. A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators has agreed on a draft framework of gun safety and violence prevention measures. While this framework is not enough to solve the problem, it is a good first step. It breaks a 30-year gridlock in Congress to finally begin to put the safety of our communities and our children before the interests of the gun lobby and the politicians they fund.

We call on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Mitch McConnell to turn this framework into legislation and pass it immediately.

The draft proposal includes:

• closing the “boyfriend loophole” so that no one, whether they’re a spouse or a dating partner, can purchase a gun if they have been convicted of domestic abuse;
• funding to encourage states to pass “red flag” laws, crisis intervention measures that help get guns away from people who may pose a threat to themselves or others;
• funding for improved school safety and increased mental health resources;
• expanded background checks for gun purchases for people under age 21; and
• penalties for illegal straw purchases by convicted criminals.

Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senator McConnell must turn this framework into law and send it to the president’s desk immediately. We can’t wait any longer; our schools, grocery stores, churches, and communities should be places where everyone can live safely and securely, not places of violence and fear.

As our mission statement says, “We envision a world where equity is the norm and oppression, in all forms, is eradicated. It is a world without war and violence. The world we want is possible, but it will only exist if we work together.”

Join us in taking action to demand that our elected officials pass this commonsense gun safety legislation NOW – before more lives are lost.

In Solidarity,

Rosemary Rivera
Co-Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York