Author: Ladd Everitt

Update: On February 23, 2018, Chubb Limited announced it will no longer be underwriting “Carry Guard” insurance for the NRA.  Lockton Companies LLC followed suit on February 26, 2018, announcing it would  discontinue providing brokerage services for NRA insurance programs. Thanks to everyone who took this action!

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Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, is partnering with GunsDown to call on Chubb Insurance and Lockton Affinity to end their partnerships with the National Rifle Association on “Carry Guard” insurance.

The insurance is intended for individuals who shoot a fellow citizen and want to claim self-defense.  This includes “Stand Your Ground” murderers like George Zimmerman, who killed Sybrina’s teenage son. Carry Guard provides coverage for these shooters’ criminal legal defense, firearm replacement, “clean-up costs,” payouts to bail companies, and a 24-hour legal hotline to provide shooters with guidance on how to avoid prosecution. Meanwhile, the NRA lobbies to make “Stand Your Ground” laws even more permissible and lethal.

Lockton Affinity is the company selling the NRA’s Carry Guard insurance.

Chubb Insurance underwrites the policies and takes a profit for its service.

In doing so, they are “perpetuating fear of minorities and immigrants and…promoting gun violence.”

Please sign the following petition from GunsDown calling on Chubb and Lockton Affinity to end their immoral partnerships with the NRA immediately:

https://stopmurderinsurance.org/

Once you have signed the petition, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Update: On November 1, 2017, cub scout Ames Mayfield appeared on “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” where the host celebrated him for his concern about domestic violence. Mayfield told Bee he has received communications from around the world thanking him for asking tough questions of Senator Vicki Marble (Esquire has confirmed that Ames did, indeed, research and write his own questions). He also joined a new cub scout den that was delighted to have him. Thanks to everyone who took this action!

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On October 9, 2017, the Broomfield, Colorado Cub Scouts den hosted state Senator Vicki Marble (R-23rd) for a presentation and Q&A session. During the Q&A, one scout asked Marble why people voted for President Barack Obama just because he was black. Marble responded and no one chastised the scout for asking a question with racist overtones.

Yet, when Cub Scout Ames Mayfield said to Sen. Marble, “I was shocked that you co-sponsored a bill to allow domestic violence offenders to continue to own a gun. Why on earth would you want someone who beats their wife to have access to a gun?” he was cut off by his den leader and Marble was excused from answering. This den leader then kicked Ames out of the Broomfield Cub Scouts altogether a few days later.

Sen. Marble is best known for overtly racist remarks she made in 2013, when she stated, “When you look at life expectancy, there are problems in the black race. Sickle-cell anemia is something that comes up. Diabetes is something that’s prevalent in the genetic makeup, and you just can’t help it. Although I’ve got to say, I’ve never had better barbecue and better chicken and ate better in my life than when you go down South.” Marble was asked about these remarks at her meeting with the Broomfield den. She lied, insisting the media had made it up, and told the Cub Scouts, “We just better figure out our genetics.”

Nicole Cosme, marketing director of the Boy Scouts of America Denver Area Council, has defended Ames’ removal from the Broomfield den and said he will be offered membership in other dens. That is not good enough.

Please contact Nicole Cosme through one of the following channels and give her the following message:

I am absolutely disgusted that Cub Scout Ames Mayfield was forced out of his Broomfield den for asking racist state Senator Vicki Marble respectful and appropriate questions about critical issues like gun-related domestic violence. Shame on you for allowing this to happen, and for bringing this woman before the den in the first place. Given that there were no repercussions for another scout who asked Marble why people voted for President Obama just because he’s black, it’s clear Ames was removed because of a political agenda. I demand that you remove the den leader who made this decision from his position and reinstate Ames’ membership in the Broomfield den immediately. If you do not, I can assure you that you will be hearing a great deal more from me and other family/friends who I will share this story with. We will not allow you to stigmatize and traumatize this 11-year old boy in this manner without consequences.

Boy Scouts of America Denver Area Council Marketing Director Nicole Cosme
Phone: (303) 455-5522, x. 2218
Email: nicole.cosme@scouting.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DenverBoyScouts/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/denverboyscouts

Once you have contacted Nicole Cosme, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Update: Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the White House to withdraw Brett Talley’s nomination for judge on the U.S. District Court of Alabama due to widespread condemnation. On December 13, 2017, the Trump administration did so.

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Our friends at the Alliance for Justice are warning us that Donald Trump has nominated 36 year-old pro-gun blogger Brett Talley for a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Talley has never tried a case and has less than three years of experience practicing law. He’s an ultra-conservative GOP speechwriter who blogs.

As AFJ has noted, Talley has written things about gun violence that are horrifying. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, he embraced violent insurrectionism, writing, “having the right to bear arms is, in many ways, the ultimate right. It is action in a way that voting or speech is not, and it makes a mockery of the notion that the government has a monopoly on force. It is power, the kind ordinary citizens have not held during 99% of human history.” He also said that “certain members of the [elementary school] faculty should be armed” and paid more than other teachers.

Talley also swore allegiance to the National Rifle Association, writing, “Today I pledge my support to the NRA; financially, politically, and intellectually. I ask you to do the same. Join the NRA. They stand for all of us now, and I pray that in the coming battle for our rights, they will be victorious.”

How can this man possibly be expected to be unbiased as a judge?

Please call your two U.S. Senators through the U.S. Capitol Hotline at (202) 224-3121 and give them the following message:

Please vote NO on the nomination of Brett Talley to serve on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama should the nomination come before your committee, or to the floor of the full Senate, for a vote. Talley is a man with no real legal experience to speak of who has expressed a radical, insurrectionist view of the Second Amendment. He has also exhibited little, if any, empathy for victims and survivors of gun violence. He has no place on the federal bench. This nomination is pure graft and dangerous. It must be opposed.

If you don’t know who your two Senators are, or want their direct-dial numbers, click here:

https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Once you have contacted your Senators, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Indiana state Representative Jim Lucas has drafted a bill that would require professional journalists to obtain a license from state police in order to exercise their First Amendment right. The reason? “If you’re OK licensing my Second Amendment right, what’s wrong with licensing your First Amendment right?” he stated.

Lucas is upset about media coverage of his efforts to repeal the longstanding law requiring Indiana residents to obtain a permit before carrying loaded, concealed handguns in public. Lucas wants to allow concealed carry with no background check, training or permit. Reporters have refused to use the absurd “constitutional carry” label given to unpermitted carry by the NRA, and that irks Lucas. “If I was as irresponsible with my handgun as the media has been with their keyboard, I’d probably be in jail,” he claimed.

When reporters asked Rep. Lucas if he actually plans to introduce the bill, he responded, “It depends on you guys. It depends on how egregious and irresponsible you are between now and then.”

Please contact Rep. Jim Lucas through one of the channels below and give him the following message:

Your proposal to restrict the First Amendment rights of journalists is despicable and juvenile. I’m equally disgusted by your response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas, which confirms that firearms idolatry is more important to you than saving human lives. There is no validity whatsoever in your insurrectionist reading of the Second Amendment. Like other regressive white men, you support loose gun laws because you believe you have a “right” to engage in acts of armed treason against our government should it threaten the power and privilege you enjoy in our society. You do not, and our Founders made that clear in the Constitution. If you introduce this grotesque piece of legislation, expect to meet with determined and vocal resistance.

Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas
Phone: (317) 234-9499 or  1-800-382-9841
Email: devan.strebing@iga.in.gov
FB: https://www.facebook.com/jim.lucas.52/posts/1902200373128567
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucasSemperFi

Once you have contacted Rep. Lucas, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Update: On October 3, 2017, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the SHARE Act was no longer on the House schedule. Ryan indicated there are no plans to bring the bill back up for consideration. Additionally, Congressman Peter Defazio, a Democrat from Oregon, has removed himself as a sponsor of the SHARE Act. Thanks to all those who contacted their Representative asking for this dangerous bill to be tabled!

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McClatchy is reporting that Republicans in Congress are still looking to move the SHARE Act forward after the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 1st. This heinous bill would deregulate silencers and armor-piercing ammunition and make the next mass shooter even more lethal.

“I personally think it would be a mistake to take [the silencer provisions] out,” said Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC), the bill’s sponsor. “[Silencers] had nothing to do with Las Vegas. I believe the facts stand for themselves.”

In truth, the Las Vegas shooting was committed by a gunman using many different types of lethal, legal firearm accessories, to include high-capacity ammunition magazines, holographic scopes, bump stocks and forward pistol grips. Silencers—which are strictly regulated at the moment—could have helped him avoid detection by reducing the sound of his gunfire and suppressing the  muzzle flash of his rifles, a key given his distant position.

The SHARE Act would also make it legal for individuals to transport their assault rifles through states that ban them and kill bear cubs in their dens as they hibernate, among other insidious provisions.

Please call your representative in the House of Representatives through the U.S. Capitol Hotline at (202) 224-3121 and give him/her the following message:

After the horrific shooting in Las Vegas, the SHARE Act must be tabled immediately. By deregulating silencers, the SHARE Act would make future active shooters even more lethal and difficult to detect because of the reduced sound of gunfire and muzzle flash suppression. To move forward with this heinous bill after nearly 600 casualties were inflicted on our civilian population by a heavily armed shooter is grotesque. I call on you to exercise all the influence and authorities you have to ensure the SHARE Act is tabled, immediately and permanently. I will be watching your actions closely, and making decisions as a voter, donor and activist based on them. This issue is very important to me.

If you don’t know who your Representative is, you can find out at this link (and get their direct dial number):

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members

Once you have contacted your U.S. Representative, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Recently, two U.S. Representatives, Tim Ryan of Ohio and Tim Walz of Minnesota (also a gubernatorial candidate), decided to donate contributions they received from the National Rifle Association to better causes.

Rep. Ryan gave $20,000 in NRA donations to Sandy Hook Promise, Americans for Responsible Solutions and Everytown for Gun Safety. Rep. Walz gave about $18,000 in NRA donations to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a national nonprofit that helps support the families of military personnel who are killed or severely wounded in service.

Please contact Reps. Ryan and Walz through the channels below and give them the following message:

Thank you for taking NRA contributions and giving that money to more worthwhile causes. It means so much to me that you would do this. I have been very concerned by the series of racist and violent videos the NRA has been producing and commend you for your actions. We are all Americans and I appreciate you for caring about the gun violence in this country.

Rep. Tim Ryan
Phone: (202) 225-5261
Email: https://timryanforms.house.gov/contact/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/timryan
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/RepTimRyan

Rep. Tim Walz
Phone: (202) 225-2472
Email: https://walzforms.house.gov/contact/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/WalzforGovernor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepTimWalz

Once you have contacted Reps. Ryan and Walz, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Update: Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced an updated and strengthened version of her 2013 Assault Weapons Ban legislation on November 8, 2017. Thanks to everyone who has taken this action!

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On Sunday, Senator Dianne Feinstein appeared on “Face the Nation” on CBS. When host John Dickerson asked her if there could “have been any law passed that would’ve stopped” the Las Vegas gunman from committing the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Feinstein—shockingly—replied, “No,” echoing the National Rifle Association’s dishonest argument.

Feinstein’s answer was all more the disappointing because she has long been the sponsor of legislation that could have stopped the carnage we saw in Las Vegas: the federal Assault Weapons Ban, which was in place from 1994 to 2004.

The Las Vegas gunman used: a) 23 semiautomatic rifles, including variants of the AR-15 and AK-47; b) Military-style accessories including bump stocks, holographic sights, forward hand grips (used to push the rifle away from the body in order to “bump” the weapon into the trigger finger repeatedly) and high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold between 60-100 rounds each; c) Thousands of rounds of ammunition (hotel room and car).

These are the exact type of firearms and accessories regulated by the federal Assault Weapons Ban which Senator Feinstein authored! If she does not believe the Assault Weapons Ban can stop military-style shootings like the one we saw in Las Vegas, why did she go back to work and sponsor an improved Assault Weapons Ban bill in 2013?

Please contact Senator Feinstein through one of the channels below and give her the following message:

Senator Feinstein, I can’t tell you how disturbed I was to hear you tell John Dickerson on “Face the Nation” that no laws could have stopped the mass shooting in Las Vegas. That is the exact language used by the National Rifle Association to obfuscate the truth and demoralize our side. The shooter used the same semiautomatic rifles and lethal accessories (high-capacity ammunition magazines, holographic sights, bump stocks, forward grips, etc.) that would be regulated under your improved Assault Weapons Ban bill, S. 150. We are depending on you for real leadership after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Please reintroduce your Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 bill and ask Republican leadership to give you an up-or-down vote on it. Speak to this issue without fear.

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Phone: (202) 224-3841 or (415) 393-0707
Email: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me 
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorFeinstein/posts/1539298089426690
Twitter: https://twitter.com/senfeinstein 

Once you have contacted Senator Feinstein, click the orange  banner below to report taking action!

On the evening of October 4, 2017 at a CNN Town Hall, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had a remarkable exchange with Bob Patterson, whose wife Lisa was slain in the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Addressing Pelosi remotely from his home just three days after the tragedy, a clearly shaken (and courageous) Patterson told her he supported an Assault Weapons Ban and regulations on the bulk purchase of ammunition:

I am not opposed to having a gun for protection. My wife and I had a gun for that reason. We talked about guns and both felt that there is no reason to own the type of guns and the amount of ammunition that the shooter had … How many more lives have to be taken before something is done? Congresswoman Pelosi, as a leader on Capitol Hill, what are you going to do to stop this?

Minority Leader Pelosi’s answer was deeply disappointing.  She would only promise to call for the formation of a select committee to study the problem of gun violence and a vote on the “Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act,” a deeply flawed background checks bill introduced by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Rep. Mike Thompson (CA). The act, H.R. 1217, would require background checks to be conducted on private sales of firearms at gun shows and online, but it includes numerous gifts for the gun lobby. These pro-gun provisions would deregulate interstate sales of handguns, shorten the amount of time that the FBI has to process a background check, allow individuals to transport assault rifles through states that ban them, and extend unprecedented legal protections to online gun sellers.

We have a real opportunity in this moment to connect with gun owners who understand there is no need for military-style armaments in America’s neighborhoods. Bob Patterson is not the only one.  But Democrats must lead us in Congress.

Please contact House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi through one of the channels below and give her the following message:

At your CNN Town Hall, Las Vegas survivor Bob Patterson told you that while he owns guns, he and his slain wife Lisa agreed that “there is no reason” for Americans to own assault weapons, or to purchase ammunition in bulk. Your response, promising Patterson only to call for a vote on a deeply flawed background checks bill (loaded with goodies for the gun lobby) and a select committee to study the problem, was deeply disappointing. We have a historic opportunity right now to connect with gun owners and other Americans who understand that military-style armaments have no place in our neighborhoods. After the horror of Las Vegas, what you and the House Democrats are asking for is NOT ENOUGH. Please call for a vote on Rep. David Cicilline’s FULL Assault Weapons Ban bill immediately. As an American citizen, I have a right to know where my Representative stands on this specific issue before the 2018 mid-term elections.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Phone: (202) 225-4965 or (202) 225-0100 (straight to voicemail)
Email: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov or https://pelosi.house.gov/contact-me
FB: https://www.facebook.com/NancyPelosi/videos/10156038080799384/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyPelosi

Once you have contacted House Minority Leader Pelosi, click the orange  banner below to report taking action!