Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/1

Art by Ade Surya via Amplifier

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday.

Also happy Pride month to all of my LGBTQIA+ readers and their loved ones. This is a very special month in our family, as my kid identifies as queer. They have a different pride tee-shirt picked out for every day of this week; our Pride flag went up first thing this morning, and after school I’ll take them for ice cream—likely with rainbow sprinkles. We take Pride month VERY seriously!

If it’s a big deal in your family, too, we send you special salutations.

Speaking of big deals, I’ve struggled this morning with whether to move on to other subjects for our Congressional calls, or keep on with calls about gun violence. There is so much to address, and while we continue to grieve the horrors of Uvalde (and everywhere) the world keeps moving. The climate keeps warming, the GOP continues to subvert democracy, the LGBTQ community continues to be under siege. There’s just so much to fight for.

But I’m not quite able to move on yet; neither, I think, are any of us. What happened in the last two weeks cannot that quickly be relegated to the past. Our grief and rage certainly haven’t subsided, neither has our craving for real action. Congress is supposedly working on a bipartisan gun bill; good. While it won’t be enough, it will save lives if we can get it passed.

But that passage will be very, very difficult, and will require a level of sustained noise from us that makes not passing it absolutely inconceivable.

So we will stay on our gun-related scripts for a few more days.

We owe those children—and our own— no less.

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I’m calling to find out what progress is being made on common sense gun legislation. There are good background check bills— HR 8 and H.R. 1446—waiting to be passed in the Senate. Please get it done, and more! The American people overwhelmingly want action. We want Red Flag laws. We want safe storage laws. We want a ban on assault weapons. We want the Charleston Loophole closed. We want Steve Dettelbach confirmed as ATF director. We want you all to do your jobs! [If GOP or Joe Manchin add:] If the Senator won’t vote to support all of that right now I will work to vote them out and replace them with a Senator that will. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.  

I’m calling to find out what progress is being made on common sense gun legislation. The American people overwhelmingly want action. We don’t just want better background check laws. We want Red Flag laws. We want safe storage laws. We want a ban on assault weapons. We want the Charleston Loophole closed. [If GOP or Henry Cuellar add:] If the Congressmember won’t vote to support all of that right now I will work to vote them out and replace them with a Congressmember that will. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s Call Chuck Schumer again. (212) 486-4430 or (518) 431-4070 or (202) 224-6542. Say:

My name is _____ I’m a voter from [city, state]. I’m calling the Senator in his capacity as Senate Majority Leader to ask that he call the Senate back from recess now and put HR 8, HR 1446, and other common sense gun laws up for a vote immediately. Americans are furious, we are scared, and we are exhausted by the daily carnage. We can’t and won’t keep living this way. Congress should be in DC working night and day to pass legislation that will begin to end this nightmare. The fact that you’re not is frankly an outrage. Please get back to work now. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

I have a really exciting invitation for you from one of my favorite under-the-radar groups: the Environmental Voter Project.

EVP is kicking off their Nevada Primary campaign with a 2 hour briefing and voter mobilization event this Monday, June 6th, at 6pm ET!

Bear in mind—if we lose our Senate seat in Nevada our ability to flip enough more Senate seats to, say, pass meaningful gun legislation this year is basically nil. We MUST win there.

EVP does incredible work finding low-propensity enviro voters and turning them out, and they’ve got data to back up the success of their approach. You’ll love hearing about it—so SMART!

So come check it out. You’ll be helping save the country, and the planet…and maybe even a few lives. 😬

Sign up here.

Show Solidarity!

This weekend, June 3-5, is National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend, honoring survivors of gun violence.  Please wear orange on Friday and find an event at Attend Wear Orange 2022 | Everytown for Gun Safety.
 
Also please don’t forget that on June 11 it’s time for The March For Our Lives 2022 - Washington DC + Nationwide.  Find a march near you at Join a March For Our Lives (everyaction.com). 

Showing up with our bodies really does make a difference.

Win Races! 🗳

Y’all! Postcards to Swing States has launched their Senate race postcard program! And they have lots and lots of postcards to send out. This campaign is awesome, as they will send you everything you need—the cards, the addresses, and the scripts—for free! You can choose between writing for North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.

What’s stopping you? Sign up to get some cards now! (Minimum order is 200).

Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)

[to President Biden] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PIIIDE to 50409]

President Biden, we are trapped in a national health emergency. Our right to life has been subordinated to the gun industry’s right to sell deadly automatic weapons without restraint of any kind while mass shootings accelerate and intensify. I don't believe the Senate will enact an effective bipartisan bill—we all still remember the Manchin-Toomey fiasco from 2013. We need bold action from you. 

I urge you to:

1. Declare gun violence a national public health emergency, with the short-term goal of unlocking at least $1 billion in funding under the Stafford Act to be distributed to states upon a governor’s request, to be used for community intervention programming and data collection with a public health lens. 

2. As Vice President Harris called for during her campaign, have the ATF revise the legal definition of federal "gun dealer" to anyone who sells at least five firearms a year for profit, thereby making them subject to federal firearms legislation. Then revoke the licenses of dealers that willfully violate the law, and order federal authorities to pursue them in court.

3. Order the Surgeon General to study and issue a report on gun violence as a health emergency. 

4. Issue an executive order requiring background checks for all gun sales and prohibiting the sale of semi-automatic weapons to anyone under the age of 21.

5. Instruct Attorney General Garland to pursue and prosecute interstate and transnational gun trafficking vigorously and with all possible resources. 

This is in your power, and we are BEGGING you to act. Congress is broken. Your Executive power is not. Use it, please. For all of our kids.

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OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess