How many more innocents in the US have to be murdered before we do something? We urge local and federal politicians to address this epidemic plaguing our nation and destroying our communities. 

The US is not the only country with mental illness, domestic violence, or hate-fueled ideologies, but our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other high-income countries. The difference is easy access to guns. This connection is not just theoretical. States with weaker gun laws and higher gun ownership rates have higher rates of mass shootings. {Paul M. Reeping et al., “State Gun Laws, Gun Ownership, and Mass Shootings in the US: Cross Sectional Time Series,” BMJ 364 (March 2019): 1542.}

When assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were used in mass shootings, they resulted in far more deaths and injuries. Assault weapons led to 6x as many people shot per mass shooting. {Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020,” (2021).} Between 2009 and 2020, the five deadliest mass shooting incidents in the US all involved the use of assault weapons and/or high-capacity magazines: Las Vegas, Orlando, Newtown, Sutherland Springs, and El Paso. The most recent tragedies in Uvalde, TX and Buffalo, NY would add to this list. 

Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were disproportionately used in public mass shootings. Of the shootings with known weapon type, 76 percent of those that involved an assault weapon and/or high-capacity magazine occurred in public compared to 44 percent of those that involved a handgun.

We need you to prioritize: 

• Universal background checks on all gun purchases. Every person who buys a gun should need to pass a background check. 
• A Ban on Assault Weapons. High-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines should not be available to civilians. There is no legitimate self-defense or sporting purpose for these military-style, high-capacity weapons and magazines whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people in a short amount of time. 
• The minimum age to buy a gun be increased from 18 to 25. There is absolutely no reason why teenagers who can’t rent a car yet be legally allowed to buy a gun.
• Institute a waiting period to get access to a gun.
• Gun trafficking become a federal offense. Gun trafficking fuels the flow of guns nationally and internationally, and is a major contributing cause to extreme gun violence like that in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere.

We believe these are common-sense, non-partisan measures. Enacting them is a no-brainer. The fact that we have had 119 school shootings since 2018, is appalling and an embarrassment to what it means to be an American.

We refuse to accept that children do not feel safe to go to school because an 18 year old in America is able to legally buy an assault rifle.

Please use your voice and your power to work with your fellow politicians to take action immediately. We cannot wait any longer. 

We are asking you to lead. 

Sincerely, 

Concerned Citizens of the United States of America