Pressure NBA Players to Boycott Games for Gun-Legislation
Pressure NBA Players to Boycott Games for Gun-Legislation
The Issue
In light of recent mass shootings in the USA, we ask the players of the NBA to boycott games in order to pressure NBA team owners to stop funding Republican lawmakers that have done nothing for gun-control legislation.
Peter Holt is the owner of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. He is a massive contributor to Conservative Super PACS, which are responsible for the election of congressional representatives that block gun-legislation, such as expanded background checks and closing the Charleston loophole. Since 2015, Peter Holt has donated just $1,000 to Democratic campaigns but a whopping $1,425,350 to Republican political campaigns, such as the Republican National Convention and Super PACS.*
This week, 19 children were murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, 85 Miles outside of San Antonio. Texas, a state with notoriously loose gun-laws, is no stranger to mass murder: recent shootings have targeted worshipers during a Sunday sermon, shoppers at a Walmart, students on a high school campus and drivers on a highway. In response, Texas' Republicans and the Super PACs that funded them have only made guns more available: "In the last two legislative sessions, Texas legislators have loosened gun laws, most notably by passing permitless carry in 2021, less than two years after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa took the lives of 30 people."(Source: Texas Tribune) **
In other states, NBA players took political action in response to a similar pandemic of violence: In August, 2020, the NBA Milwaukee Bucks players decided to boycott their own NBA Playoff games to demand justice and legislative action in response to the killing of 29 years old black man, Jacob Blake in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin. From their statement: "It is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality and criminal justice reform." (Sporting News)*** Despite having to break terms of their contracts, players from other teams followed suit and supported the cause. The chairman of the NBA took a stronger stance on BLM and incorporated players' feedback into the way social justice statements are made and supported and acted on.
There were 818 mass shootings in 2021 and 214 in 2022, as of May 26 (Mass Shooting Tracker)**** Last week, in Buffalo, NY, 10 people were killed in a hate-crime mass shooting targeting the Black community. This week, a random act of hate was perpetrated by a similar profile of killer. The problem is that guns are simply too easy for disturbed people to obtain. It is time for the players of the San Antonio Spurs to do what the Milwaukee Bucks did, but go a step further. They must pressure their team owner, Peter Holt, to stop supporting Conservative Super PACS that block meaningful gun-control legislation. Holt's $1.4M donations have contributed to the repeated election of Republican lawmakers who have softened gun-legislation in the US.
It is time to end this domestic terrorism, which forces American parents to fear sending their children to school. It is time for NBA players to protect their own children and communities from the greed of the gun lobbyists and the politicians in bed with them. According to Brady United, the U.S. House passed legislation to expand and strengthen the background check system over a year ago with bipartisan support. Yet a Republican filibuster has obstructed life-saving bills from getting a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate. *****
Take 1 minute to sign this petition, asking the players of the Spurs to boycott games and force John Holt (and other NBA owners) to stop financially supporting the lawmakers who facilitate mass murder by supporting the gun industry. Every petition signed gets sent to Marc Duvoisin, the editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Newspaper, Express News. The USA is not a global outlier in mental illness, we are a global outlier in overly-lax gun laws and it is time to change.
* https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/24/21453818/nba-owners-political-donations-trump-gop
** https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/24/texas-gun-laws-uvalde-mass-shootings/
**** https://massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2021
***** Sign the Brady United petition and tell your state representative here: https://www.bradyunited.org/act/expand-strengthen-brady-background-checks-hr8-hr1446
55
The Issue
In light of recent mass shootings in the USA, we ask the players of the NBA to boycott games in order to pressure NBA team owners to stop funding Republican lawmakers that have done nothing for gun-control legislation.
Peter Holt is the owner of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. He is a massive contributor to Conservative Super PACS, which are responsible for the election of congressional representatives that block gun-legislation, such as expanded background checks and closing the Charleston loophole. Since 2015, Peter Holt has donated just $1,000 to Democratic campaigns but a whopping $1,425,350 to Republican political campaigns, such as the Republican National Convention and Super PACS.*
This week, 19 children were murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, 85 Miles outside of San Antonio. Texas, a state with notoriously loose gun-laws, is no stranger to mass murder: recent shootings have targeted worshipers during a Sunday sermon, shoppers at a Walmart, students on a high school campus and drivers on a highway. In response, Texas' Republicans and the Super PACs that funded them have only made guns more available: "In the last two legislative sessions, Texas legislators have loosened gun laws, most notably by passing permitless carry in 2021, less than two years after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa took the lives of 30 people."(Source: Texas Tribune) **
In other states, NBA players took political action in response to a similar pandemic of violence: In August, 2020, the NBA Milwaukee Bucks players decided to boycott their own NBA Playoff games to demand justice and legislative action in response to the killing of 29 years old black man, Jacob Blake in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin. From their statement: "It is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality and criminal justice reform." (Sporting News)*** Despite having to break terms of their contracts, players from other teams followed suit and supported the cause. The chairman of the NBA took a stronger stance on BLM and incorporated players' feedback into the way social justice statements are made and supported and acted on.
There were 818 mass shootings in 2021 and 214 in 2022, as of May 26 (Mass Shooting Tracker)**** Last week, in Buffalo, NY, 10 people were killed in a hate-crime mass shooting targeting the Black community. This week, a random act of hate was perpetrated by a similar profile of killer. The problem is that guns are simply too easy for disturbed people to obtain. It is time for the players of the San Antonio Spurs to do what the Milwaukee Bucks did, but go a step further. They must pressure their team owner, Peter Holt, to stop supporting Conservative Super PACS that block meaningful gun-control legislation. Holt's $1.4M donations have contributed to the repeated election of Republican lawmakers who have softened gun-legislation in the US.
It is time to end this domestic terrorism, which forces American parents to fear sending their children to school. It is time for NBA players to protect their own children and communities from the greed of the gun lobbyists and the politicians in bed with them. According to Brady United, the U.S. House passed legislation to expand and strengthen the background check system over a year ago with bipartisan support. Yet a Republican filibuster has obstructed life-saving bills from getting a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate. *****
Take 1 minute to sign this petition, asking the players of the Spurs to boycott games and force John Holt (and other NBA owners) to stop financially supporting the lawmakers who facilitate mass murder by supporting the gun industry. Every petition signed gets sent to Marc Duvoisin, the editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Newspaper, Express News. The USA is not a global outlier in mental illness, we are a global outlier in overly-lax gun laws and it is time to change.
* https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/24/21453818/nba-owners-political-donations-trump-gop
** https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/24/texas-gun-laws-uvalde-mass-shootings/
**** https://massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2021
***** Sign the Brady United petition and tell your state representative here: https://www.bradyunited.org/act/expand-strengthen-brady-background-checks-hr8-hr1446
55
The Decision Makers
Petition created on May 25, 2022