One year ago today, a gunman with an AR-15 entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing nineteen children and two teachers. The Uvalde tragedy came just ten days after the terrorist attack in Buffalo, New York, which claimed the lives of ten Black individuals at a grocery store. While Congress did thereafter successfully pass the first piece of legislation aimed at curbing gun violence in decades, multiple mass shootings have occurred since, claiming the lives of countless people, forever lost to their loved ones and our communities.
A recent poll found that six in ten Americans prioritize controlling gun violence over protecting gun rights. The poll also points out that non-whites and those in states with more lax gun laws are more likely to experience gun violence. Humanists must urge our elected officials to pass legislation enacting common sense gun reform. Gun violence continues to mercilessly take the lives of our loved ones in cities and towns across America. It is more than clear that Congress must act to protect the lives of our children, loved ones, and community members by passing gun reform measures, which can include a national assault weapons ban, expanding background checks, mandating secure gun storage, and closing the gun show loophole.
It’s time for Congress to take action to stop gun violence.
Gun violence claims the lives of tens of thousands of Americans every year, and, according to disturbing recent data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms have become the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. As a country, we have utterly failed to even protect our own children from preventable gun violence. Our elected officials have the power to change this, if we demand it.
A strong majority of Americans support policy reform on guns, and we must put lives and safety above the demands of the gun lobby. We must demand that our elected officials in Congress take meaningful steps towards securing the safety of our communities and ensuring that these senseless, preventable killings are stopped. We shouldn’t have to think twice about whether it’s safe to go to the grocery store, or the bank, or send our kids to school. Your elected officials need to hear from you.
Take a couple of minutes now to contact your elected officials in Congress. Ask them to do everything in their power to enact meaningful change, and pass gun reform legislation to bring peace to our communities before another preventable tragedy takes place.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) has for too long called upon Congress, the President, and leaders of all political parties to take actions protecting against gun violence a top priority of our national agenda. Read the Resolution to Protect Children from Gun Violence in the United States here.
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