GUN CONTROL PROPAGANDA FROM OFA & At Last, White House Discusses Executive Order on Guns 7MAR&10JAN13

I received this piece of propaganda on gun control and immigration from a group I belong to, Organizing for Action, which used to be the Obama campaign's Organizing for America. My response to OFA with the local group CC'ed in, followed by a piece from HuffPost calling on Pres Obama to issue an executive order banning assault weapons and high capacity ammo clips. 

Think back to President Obama's first term. Special interests spent unprecedented money to convince Congress to vote against policies the American people supported. History is already repeating itself. We're just a few months into President Obama's second term and special-interest groups are back at it, pouring money into ads to defeat common-sense gun safety measures that more than 90 percent of Americans support. Shady groups with undisclosed donors are fighting back against comprehensive immigration reform.  We're not sitting back and letting them get away with it. Organizing for Action's mission is to put power back into the hands of the American people. That's why we won't accept a single dollar from corporations, PACs, foreign donors, or lobbyists. This is your movement, not theirs.  So step up and own it -- add your name today and let us know you're in: http://my.barackobama.com/Organizing-for-Action Thanks, Messina Jim Messina Chair  Organizing for Action ---------------- Let's finish what we started. Chip in $13 or more to Organizing for Action, the grassroots movement that will get the job done. MY response IF President Obama wanted to do something about gun violence he could issue an executive order banning assault weapons and high capacity ammo clips. Vice President Biden even suggested he do that, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-david-jaffee/gun-control-executive-order_b_2443632.html. Now the people who worked to get him reelected are being played for fools with a propaganda campaign by OFA to deceive us into thinking the Pres is doing everything he can to address gun violence when in fact he is allowing the nra controlled congress to water down or reject any meaningful gun control legislation. They want us to provide political cover for the President's inaction on this issue, and they want our money too. I, for one, am not getting suckered this time. I want proof Pres Obama has MY back on gun control, and he can keep his hand out of my wallet until he does something to earn any donation I might consider. Some might suggest I quit Organizing for Action. Not gonna happen, I put time and money into getting a Progressive President elected and am not going to let him get away with turning republican on us without a fight. Craig. From HuffPost.... At Last, White House Discusses Executive Order on Guns Even the Dickensian sage, Mr. Bumble, may not have felt that the law is a complete ass. Sometimes, the asinine rigidity of the law and its practitioners can be overcome with a little creative thought. That is why I was delighted that Vice President Biden echoed what I have said now for some time -- that President Obama should issue an executive order banning the sale of semiautomatic guns, assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as part of a comprehensive, nationwide package on gun control. I first urged the president to do so last year, in the wake of the mass killing in Aurora, Colo. At the time that I did so in a piece, titled "Calling for an Executive Order Banning Assault Weapons," I was denigrated by those on the right, who claimed that what I was proposing was unconstitutional, and I was denigrated by those on the left, who claimed that I would hurt President Obama's chances of winning reelection. Since that original piece, I followed up with several others, in which I continued to call for anexecutive order on gun control, since, I noted, it was highly unlikely that "a cowardly and intransigent" Congress would pass an assault weapons ban in an election year or any year. Finally, it seems that the White House has listened to me. But at what cost? Since I first broached the possibility of an executive order, we have had massacres at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, an Oregon shopping mall, and of course the horrific shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as well as numerous other tragedies on a daily basis in cities like Chicago. Cynics will claim that an executive order will not last, that it can be reversed by the next president. To them, I say that I would rather save lives the next four years, then do nothing and watch as more massacres transpire. Others will claim that, as we are a country of roughly 300 million guns, massacres will take place no matter what the president does. That may be, but I am not so worried about the ordinary gun owner, who uses a hunting rifle or a shot gun. I am much more concerned about assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. As I wrote in a piece last month, just after the Newtown tragedy, had Adam Lanza been carrying a hunting rifle, he would not have gotten very far since the rifle would have been visible to all, and the carnage would have been greatly diminished. Some will continue to claim that this is an issue about mental illness, not gun ownership. Really? From time immemorial, we have always had angry, frustrated people, some of whom may or may not be mentally ill. That will remain the case in the world, for as long as we exist. Whatever one thinks of that hothead gun owner who seeks to deport CNN's Piers Morgan, he does not strike me as being mentally ill at all; he is simply an angry, frustrated, volatile man, who, unfortunately, owns many guns. Nor is Iago, my favorite example of a cold-blooded killer, mentally ill in the least. Like that gun owner on Piers Morgan's show, Iago is angry too, angry and frustrated at his status in life as a relatively unheralded soldier, whereas Cassio and Othello, two better men, who have more honor and courage than Iago, have received promotions. What we need to do is to keep assault weapons out of the hands of members of the public, whether or not they are angry, violent or mentally ill, because as I have argued, when there is a gun on the mantel in Act I, it is likely to go off by the end of Act III. As for the issue of violent video games, I certainly do not condone them, but I think that, here too, we are missing the true issue, which is the need to keep assault weapons out of the hands of anyone but those in the military. As a child, I grew up watching and enjoying the old Warner Brothers gangster movies, starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, George Raft and Edward G. Robinson. Those movies were not nihilistic, as many of today's video games are. Still, they often presented somewhat sympathetic portraits of criminals, like Cagney's Eddie Bartlett in The Roaring Twenties, Bogart's Roy Earle in High Sierra, and Robinson's title character in The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse. Needless to say, I did not end up as a mobster or a gun-toting killer. As harmless as I am, I and the rest of civilians in this country should be barred from owning military-style weapons. Vice President Biden is on the right track in finally proposing an executive order banning these weapons and high-capacity magazines. I commend him and President Obama for this. I only wish that they had implemented such an order last term. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-david-jaffee/gun-control-executive-order_b_2443632.html

THE 57TH PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION 21JAN13

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. GOD BLESS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND OUR COUNTRY!!!! BY THE BY, THERE IS A LOT MORE TO SEE IF YOU CLICK THE LINK BELOW.....

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. ... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. 

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

WATCH THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA 21JAN13

The Inauguration of a President

http://www.whitehouse.gov/inauguration-2013?sid=24328336
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/01/21/second-inauguration-barack-obama?utm_source=012313&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=daily

Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

United States Capitol

 

 

11:55 A.M. EST

 

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice,

members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:  

 

Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution.  We affirm the promise of our democracy.  We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.  What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  

 

Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.  For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.  (Applause.)  The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob.  They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.  

 

And for more than two hundred years, we have.  

 

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free.  We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.  

 

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers. 

 

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.  

 

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. 

 

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone.  Our celebration of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

 

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.  For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias.  No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.  Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.  (Applause.) 

 

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience.  A decade of war is now ending.  (Applause.)  An economic recovery has begun.  (Applause.)  America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands:  youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention.  My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it -- so long as we seize it together.  (Applause.)  

 

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.  (Applause.)  We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.  We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship.  We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.  (Applause.)   

 

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.  So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher.  But while the means will change, our purpose endures:  a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American.  That is what this moment requires.  That is what will give real meaning to our creed.   

 

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.  We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit.  But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.  (Applause.)  For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. 

 

We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.  We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm.  The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us.  (Applause.)  They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.  (Applause.)  

 

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.  We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.  (Applause.)  Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.  

 

The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult.  But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it.  We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise.  That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure -- our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks.  That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God.  That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

 

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.  (Applause.)  Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage.  (Applause.)  Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty.  The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war; who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends -- and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

 

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law.  We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully –- not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.  (Applause.)

 

America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe.  And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation.  We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.  And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice –- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes:  tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and justice.  

 

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.  (Applause.) 

 

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.  For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law  –- (applause) -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity -- (applause) -- until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.  (Applause.)   Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.  

 

That is our generation’s task -- to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American.  Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness.  Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time.  (Applause.)  

 

For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay.  We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.  (Applause.)  We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect.  We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall. 

 

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction.  And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service.  But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream.  My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.  

 

They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope.  You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.  You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.  (Applause.)  

 

Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright.  With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.  

 

Thank you.  God bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.  (Applause.)  

 

 

END

12:10 P.M. EST

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/01/21/second-inauguration-barack-obama?utm_source=012313&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=daily

Your president has called upon you (CONGRESS AND GUN CONTROL) 17JAN13

IF you agree with Pres Obama's and VP Biden's gun control proposals as outlined on 16JAN13 then e mail your Representative and tell them to support the legislation when it comes to the House for a vote. See details of these proposals in my earlier post The NRA’s influence — in 6 charts 16JAN13 & OPENSECRETS.ORG NRA PAGE http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-nras-influence-in-6-charts-16jan13.html
and Obama unveils gun-control proposals 16JAN13 &Chart: The U.S. has far more gun-related killings than any other developed country 14DEZ12 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/obama-unveils-gun-control-proposals.html
and GRAPH; Obama’s gun-control proposals 16JAN13 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/graph-obamas-gun-control-proposals.html
   Click the link from the Daily Kos to send your message....

Please send an email to your member of the House of Representatives, telling him or her to pass the gun safety proposals outlined by President Obama.

Earlier today, President Obama announced a series of executive orders on gun safety. However, the most important changes we can make to improve gun safety in America can only come with congressional action. These include:

1. Universal background checks whenever someone buys a gun, whether it is from a licensed dealer or a private seller;
2. Restoring the ban on military-style assault weapons, and a 10 round limit for magazines;
3. Improving access to mental health services;
4. Increasing funding for school security and safety

As President Obama himself said, "this will not happen unless the American people demand it." That means you.

Tell Congress: Pass the gun safety proposals outlined by President Obama.

The gun lobby has stood in the way of enacting common sense measures for too long. We finally have a chance to make a difference, but we need to help members of Congress find their spines.

Ask your representatives if they prefer getting an A rating from the gun lobby, or giving parents peace of mind when they drop their kids off for first grade.

I know my answer, I think I know yours, but make sure you know where your member of Congress stands.

Click here to remind Congress that they work for the American people, and not the NRA.

Keep fighting,
Michael Miller, Daily Kos

NOW IS THE TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE 16JAN13

THE President's and VP's proposals on gun control, from the White House website.....

• #NowIsTheTime
• WHY NOW
• WORKING TOGETHER
• THE PLAN
• SHARE AND SUPPORT

DOWNLOAD THE PLAN

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence?utm_source=email193a&utm_medium=text1&utm_campaign=nowisthetime
Our nation has suffered too much at the hands of dangerous people who use guns to commit horrific acts of violence. As President Obama said following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, “We won’t be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”

Most gun owners are responsible and law-abiding, and they use their guns safely. The President strongly believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. But to better protect our children and our communities from tragic mass shootings like those in Newtown, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Tucson, there are common-sense steps we can take right now.

While no law or set of laws will end gun violence, it is clear that the American people want action. If even one child’s life can be saved, then we need to act. Now is the time to do the right thing for our children, our communities, and the country we love.

Why Now

Gunfire was probably the last thing U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her constituents expected to hear during their Saturday morning town hall meeting in a Tucson grocery store parking lot. But by the time the last shot rang out on January 8, 2011, six lay dead or dying and thirteen more were injured. Rep. Giffords, the gunman's target, was shot in the head. She survived, but faced a long and difficult journey to recovery. Among those who lost their lives were a nine-year-old girl, a federal judge, and one of Giffords’ staffers.

President Obama speaks at a memorial service for in Tucson, Arizona. January 12, 2011

Four days later, President Obama spoke at a memorial service for the Tucson shooting victims, urging us to engage in national conversation about the causes of this type of tragedy.

“We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future.”

Just after midnight on July 20, 2012, a man walked into a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire. He killed twelve people and wounded another 58.

Days after the shooting there, President Obama traveled to Aurora to speak with survivors and meet with family members and loved ones of each of the victims. He heard from local leaders about the community’s resilience in the face of such shocking violence – violence that reminded the nation it could have been any of us in that theater, or any of us mourning the loss of a friend or family member.

President Obama also reminded us that even in the darkest of days, the extraordinary courage and strength of the American people shines through. He told the remarkable story of two young women he met who survived the shooting. After Allie was shot in the neck, her best friend Stephanie stayed beside her and kept pressure on the wound, even as bullets whizzed overhead. When they stopped, Stephanie helped carry Allie outside to the safety of a waiting ambulance, two parking lots away.

But just a few weeks later, another American community faced the unimaginable grief that cities like Tucson and Aurora knew too well. In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a shooting in a Sikh temple left six people dead and four more wounded.

Despite witnessing these tragedies again and again and again, nothing could have steeled the nation for what would happen in Newtown, Connecticut.

On December 14, 2012, the day had just begun at Sandy Hook Elementary when a man broke into the school and started shooting. Within minutes, twenty of Sandy Hook’s first graders – 6 and 7 year olds – were killed in their classrooms. The school’s principal and psychologist were among the six staff members who died trying to protect the children in their care.

That afternoon, the President spoke emotionally about the day’s events from the White House. At a prayer vigil in Newtown two days later, President Obama said we couldn’t tolerate this kind of tragedy anymore. The time had come to take meaningful action to reduce gun violence in America.

President Obama speaks about the Newtown shooting. December 12, 2012

“If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that -- then surely we have an obligation to try.”

Working Together

Five days after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, President Obama announced that Vice President Biden would lead an effort to develop a set of concrete policy proposals for reducing gun violence, due no later than January.

“This is not some Washington commission. This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside. This is a team that has a very specific task, to pull together real reforms right now.”

Keeping with President Obama’s commitment to engage the American people in the process, the Vice President solicited input from citizens and organizations with a wide range of concerns, perspectives, and opinions while preparing his recommendations. From victims’ advocates to educators, elected leaders to sports and wildlife conservationists, he spoke with many groups about their ideas on curbing gun violence in the United States.

play

Colin Goddard, Survivor of the Virginia Tech Shooting

Goddard, then a college senior, was shot four times in a classroom at Virginia Tech. A single gunman killed 32 people at the school and wounded Goddard and 16 others in April 2007. Today, he is a gun violence prevention advocate.

play

Annette Nance-Holt, Parent of Victim Blair Nance-Holt shot in gang-related crossfire In May 2007

Nance-Holt’s 16-year-old son, Blair, was killed riding a bus on his way to help out at his grandparents’ store in Roseland, Illinois.

play

Hildy Saizow, President, Arizonans for Gun Safety

Saizow directs Arizona’s Community Outreach for Project Safe Neighborhoods. She has worked as a criminologist, public policy analyst, community planner, and is working to develop and implement community crime prevention programs.

In addition to the Vice President’s meetings and discussions here in Washington, people from around the country joined the conversation about preventing gun violence by signing We the People petitions on the White House web site. As part of the official response to those petitions, President Obama recorded a special message for the more than 350,000 people who signed them, explaining that his efforts would only be successful with the continued help of Americans who stand up and speak out.

playplayplayplayplay

“That is how change happens. Because of committed Americans who work to make it happen. Because of you. You have started something and now I am asking you to keep at it. I am asking for your help to make a real, meaningful difference in the lives of our communities and our country.”

To keep the conversation going, Bruce Reed, the Vice President’s chief of staff, invited petition signers to join him on a conference call about the ongoing work at the White House. As domestic policy advisor in the Clinton White House, Reed worked closely with then-Senator Joe Biden to pass the 1994 Crime Bill that helped law enforcement bring down the rate of violent crime in America, and is deeply involved in developing the latest set of proposals.

The President's Plan to Reduce Gun Violence

On January 15, 2013, Vice President Biden delivered his policy proposals to President Obama. The package of recommendations, released publicly January 16, 2013, details ways we can help keep guns out of the wrong hands, make our schools safer, and increase access to mental health services.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL TEXT OF THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN

Require background checks for all gun sales


The single most important thing we can do to prevent gun violence and mass shootings is to make sure those who would commit acts of violence cannot get access to guns. Right now, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to run background checks on those buying guns, but studies estimate that nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are made by private sellers who are exempt from this requirement. A national survey of inmates found that only 12 percent of those who used a handgun in a crime acquired it from a retail store or pawn shop, where a background check should have been run.

Congress should pass legislation that goes beyond closing the “gun show loophole” to require background checks for all firearm sales, with limited, common-sense exceptions for cases like certain transfers between family members and temporary transfers for hunting and sporting purposes.

#NowIsTheTime to require background checks for all gun sales Wh.gov/now-is-the-time
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Strengthen the background check system for gun sales


Pass a new, stronger ban on assault weapons


Limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds


Finish the job of getting armor-piercing bullets off the streets


Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime


End the freeze on gun violence research


Make our schools safer with new resource officers and counselors, better emergency response plans, and more nurturing school climates


Ensure quality coverage of mental health treatment, particularly for young people
No single law – or even set of laws – can prevent every act of violence in our country. But the fact that this problem is complex can not be an excuse for inaction.
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“Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”

Share and support

If this effort to reduce gun violence is to succeed, it’s going to require the help of the American people -- it’s going to require all of you. If you agree that now is the time to work together to keep guns out of the wrong hands, make our schools safer and increase access to mental health services, sign on to show your support