Never underestimate the power of art – A literal moving testimony to the slaughter of our kids.

RIGHT NOW: Dozens of school buses are showing up to Senator Ted Cruz’s office downtown to honor gun violence victims & push for gun reform. @KHOU pic.twitter.com/Yy9RB4ABJT
— Ugochi Iloka KHOU (@UgochiKHOU) July 14, 2022

Quote by David Barnhart, Methodist Pastor

A fleet of 52 yellow school buses formed a mile-long procession to Sen. Ted Cruz’s house in Houston last Thursday morning — 4,368 empty seats to honor the number of children killed by gun violence since 2020.

The procession, dubbed the ‘NRA Children’s Museum,’ was set up by artist Manuel Oliver whose son, Joaquin, was shot and killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida in 2018.

“It’s partially with the intention that some people will think this is truly an NRA museum,” Oliver told BuzzFeed News. The first bus carried items from school shooting victims and the top of every bus also lists the city and date of the site of mass shootings that took place in America since 2020.

Action #1 – Invite kids you know to get involved in the “Yellow Bus Project”

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UPDATE 7.12.22: March for Our Lives – Actions to take now!!

Two things have just occurred…

March for Our Lives: “The Supreme Court just ruled 6-3 in favor of the gun lobby in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, an extreme and dangerous expansion of the second amendment that elevates the right to carry guns over every other right. This ruling reverses critical gun safety legislation in New York and will cause similar gun safety laws in seven other states to fall as well. Americans will die as a result of this decision. By overturning New York’s common sense gun law on concealed carry, the Court is stripping states of the ability to protect their citizens from gun violence. This is not about responsible gun ownership, but universal gun ownership. We have seen what happens when states do not act to limit carrying guns in public spaces. We must fight now more than ever for our right to not be shot.” Stay tuned for an action! This will affect laws in a number of states, including CA.
- Note: If the GOP retakes Congress, they will pass H.R.6248 – Stand Your Ground Act (Gaetz) – Florida’s get-away-with-murder legislation, on a nationwide basis, allowing daily executions of minorities and others on our streets by vigilantes who will be well-armed with concealed weapons.
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “found” a bare number of GOP deadwood, who are either retiring or not up for reelection until 2026, to vote for an extremely modest gun bill – The “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” includes funding for mental health, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It closes the “Boyfriend Loophole” and requires more gun sellers to register as Federally Licensed Firearm dealers. (What’s in the bill?)

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March for Our Lives – Actions to take after it’s over!

The march is only the beginning…

Action #1: Program your phone. Help your friends and relatives in RED states program theirs. Commit to calling your legislators. Every damn day.

Why in the world would I do that? Indivisible has, since its inception, adopted the tactics of the Tea Party – the group of hyper-conservative voters who worked together to call their legislators every day. Like a form of water torture – short calls from constituents, over and over, can even wear down a legislator like Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Loomis. She may be the recipient of a “lifetime A plus rating” from the National Rifle Association, but like all politicians, she just wants to be reelected.

Calling legislators works!

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Do not vote for the Guns-Over-People party. For dogcatcher. For school board. For anything.

People may have forgotten the cruel and repressive legislation that was the hallmark of the GOP-controlled House and Senate under Trump. This post is just a reminder – their bills are already on the rolls, waiting to reappear, if we don’t do our job and keep them out of office. Vote, Vote, Vote!

Democratic legislators are trying to pass legislation to limit the damage caused by gun use. We have two posts (here) and (here) on actions to you can take to encourage your legislators and to remind them that their reelection depends on their votes. Make sure your relatives in red states call theirs as well.

(Note: You can add H.R. 4992 – 21 to Buy Act and H.R.3015 – Raise the Age Act to your lists when you talk to your legislators.)

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Gun violence is a national health emergency. Ask Biden and our legislators to treat it that way.

The Guns-Over-People party has trained us to see gun violence as only a societal, mental or a criminal issue.

“It’s time to flip the narrative. These mass shootings, and the 1000s of daily tragedies behind them, are not inevitable. We can reduce gun deaths, just like we did for cars, by acknowledging that firearm injury is, at its root, a health problem—and that solutions are within reach.” – Megan Ranney MD MPH, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Dean of the School of Public Health, Brown University.

We know that more Americans die of firearm deaths than car accidents. In fact, firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in this country. The GOP gives us nothing but “thoughts & prayers, and lies about “mental health“, while actively refusing to fund it. We can do better.