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. @KHOUpic.twitter.com/Yy9RB4ABJT
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”
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.
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.
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.
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.
This deal hasn’t passed either the House or the Senate yet. Currently, nine Senate Republicans back this compromise, though lawmakers will need one more for the bill to pass. Democrats say they’ll continue looking for a 10th Republican senator to support the deal, which won’t be able to pass the upper chamber until they find one.
Call your senators and be sure your friends and family in RED states call theirs. All those threatened by gun violence by stalkers and violent partners of any kind, and the law enforcement officers often placed between them, should have equal access to the protection afforded to those covered by the original Lautenberg Amendment.
Minimal Script for DEM senators: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [___] to strongly support H.R. 1620 – The “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act” with its language closing the “Boyfriend Loophole”! Why would the senator deny women facing violent boyfriends and predatory stalkers equal access to the protections of the federal law against domestic violence. Why would you ignore the please of law enforcement officials whose officers have died protecting them? Do better for us!
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 