Wednesday 3/7 Call to Action

Wednesday

Sensible Gun Laws
With the constant barrage of scandal coming from the White House, it is easy to lose track of important issues like gun safety. Today, let’s take time to revisit this issue. We need to call our members of Congress and remind them that we expect common sense gun laws ASAP.

Here are some bills we can discuss:
Toomey-Manchin Proposal- This idea which was originally proposed in 2013 and revisited in 2015 (and failed to move forward in the Senate), would expand background checks for gun show and on-line gun purchases. https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/toomey-sensing-momentum-…/…

HR 4240 is another background check bill with bipartisan support in the House. The bill’s discharge petition does not have enough signatures to allow a floor vote. Representatives Walz, McCollum, Ellison, and Nolan have signed on. If your representative isn’t on this list, today is the day to call and encourage them to do so. https://www.congress.gov/…/115th…/house-bill/4240/cosponsors
https://www.countable.us/bills/hr4240-115

S 2135 Fix NICS Act – This bill seeks to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by requiring federal and state authorities to comply with existing law. This bill seems like a no-brainer.https://www.countable.us/bills/s2135-115

HR 3999 Banning Bump Stocks- This bill would ban bump stocks and other devices that make a semi-automatic weapon behave like an automatic one.https://www.countable.us/…/hr3999-115-to-amend-title-18-uni…

HR 5090 Raise the Age Act- This bill would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years. https://www.countable.us/bills/hr5090-115

HR 5087 Assault Weapons Ban of 2018- This bill would ban all semi-automatic weapons that have a detachable magazine that can carry more than 10 rounds. This bill will probably never see the House floor (unless we change the make up of the House in November!). https://www.countable.us/bills/hr5087-115

S 834 Authorizing the CDC to Research Gun Violence- This bill would repeal the Dickey Amendment (which prohibited the Centers for Disease Control to study gun violence) and provide funding for research. It is unbelievable to me that even studying gun violence is a controversial issue. Good gravy legislators! https://www.countable.us/bills/s834-115
Smart people like the organizers for the March for Science and the American Psychological Association have written an open letter to Congress requesting they reinstate research on gun violence. Check out the letter and add your name to it if you agree. https://www.marchforscience.com/gunviolence
This link also allows you to contact your members of Congress via email or tweet.

Check out Giffords Law Center’s gun safety score card for states. Minnesota gets a C+. For sure we can do better! http://lawcenter.giffords.org/scorecard/

2. Minnesota Legislature
State Senator Karla Bigham and State Representative Keith Franke introduced bipartisan legislation that would require school districts to establish threat assessment teams. (SF 2993/HF 3370) These teams would look for individuals that may pose a threat to schools and intervene, hopefully before any violence occurs. You can read more about it here: https://www.facebook.com/karlabighamforstatesenate/posts/152303592119616

Or check out this article here that uses tactics designed by the U. S. Secret Service to identify children at risk for committing violence. https://www.scientificamerican.com/…/if-you-want-to-know-…/…

While this is a good start, it does not replace legislation that keeps weapons out of the hands of people who want to harm others. Give your state members of Congress a call and remind them that we also need common sense gun legislation.

3. Russia’s Election Meddling
(From Rogan’s List )
Although the State Department has been allotted $120 million to combat Russian election meddling but zero dollars have been spent: https://www.nytimes.com/…/state-department-russia-global-en…
(non-paywall version of same information:http://www.tampabay.com/…/State-Department-was-granted-120-… )
Let’s tell Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that we expect the State Department to effectively engage against this threat: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, US Dept of State, 2201 C St NW, Washington, DC 20520

4. Dates to Remember
March 14th Join the Women’s March Youth Empower Groups, #ENOUGHNational School Walkout https://www.womensmarch.com/enough
March 24th March for Our Lives http://rallybus.net/march-for-our-lives/
Find an event in your area https://event.marchforourlives.com/…/march-our-live…/search/
April 20th #NationalSchoolWalkout
Find an event in your area http://act.indivisible.org/event/national-school-walkout/

Klobuchar-202-224-3244
Smith (202) 224-5641
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121
MN Legislators: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legislators
Resistbot: https://resistbot.io/
Governor Dayton- https://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/

This John Oliver is not safe for work, but it is fantastic!