Author: Ladd Everitt

September is Suicide Awareness Month and a good time reflect on the fact that suicides account for a majority of gun deaths each  year in the United States of America.

On World Suicide Prevention Day, photographer Joe Quint (It Takes Us: Stories of Gun Violence from Across America) and Everytown for Gun Safety released a powerful video featuring survivors Diane Sellgren, Dorothy Paugh, and Eddie Weingart talking about their experience with gun suicide. It’s not only moving, but also incredibly informative, dispelling virtually all gun lobby myths about gun suicide.

Please watch the video, and then share it, at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/ittakesus/videos/1512138128875010/

Once you have shared the video on Facebook (or elsewhere), 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!

Today, the House Federal Lands Subcommittee conducted a hearing on the dangerous “Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act” (SHARE Act) introduced by Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) on behalf of the National Rifle Association.

Contrary to its name, the SHARE Act is a regressive piece of legislation that would do the following:

• Eliminate the longstanding and successful licensing and registration process for civilians who wish to obtain firearm silencers. Furthermore, the 900,000 silencers already in civilian hands could be transferred through private sales, with no background check!
• Require the government to destroy records of silencer sales/transfers.
• Prevent the government from classifying ammunition as “armor-piercing,” thereby guaranteeing its sale on the civilian market.
• Nullify state gun laws preventing the possession of dangerous firearms, allowing individuals in states with weak gun laws to transport their assault rifles through any state in the country.
• Allow hunters to shoot and kill bear cubs in their dens while they are hibernating.

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:

As your constituent, I urge you to vote NO on the SHARE Act. This reprehensible piece of legislation purports to be about “recreation” and “conservation,” but in reality is a Christmas tree for the gun lobby. It is packed with provisions that would financially benefit the gun industry by allowing them to sell military-style accessories (silencers) and ammunition (armor-piercing) freely on the civilian market. The SHARE Act is an obvious threat to public safety. It angers me that the House is wasting taxpayer resources spending time on it. I will be watching your vote on this legislation closely, and making decisions as a voter, donor and activist based on it.

Once you have contacted your U.S. Representative, 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!

One of the NRA’s top priorities during the 115th Congress is to roll back longstanding laws governing civilian access to firearm silencers. Now the NRA is attempting to sneak an amendment into a sportsmen’s bill–the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act (SHARE Act)–to achieve that goal.

In 1934, Congress passed the National Firearms Act (NFA) and established a licensing and registration system for civilians seeking to obtain silencers. In doing so, Congress acknowledged that silencers are dangerous products that make it more difficult for law enforcement to identify active shooters (by masking muzzle flash and making it more difficult to hear gunfire).  This federal regulation has been a tremendous success–silencers have rarely been used in gun crimes over the past 83 years.

Silencers have no “recreational” purpose–there were designed to allow assassins to kill surreptitiously. The risk of unregulated silencers is simply too great, particularly in an America that faces daily mass shootings and other gun-related horrors. More than 900,000+ silencers are currently owned by civilians who have gone through the NFA’s licensing/registration process. If the NRA’s amendment to the SHARE Act was passed, these silencers could be transferred through private sales, which do not require any background check on buyers.

Please sign the following petition by Everytown for Gun Safety to tell your Members of Congress to remove the NRA’s dangerous silencer provision from the SHARE Act:

http://act.everytown.org/sign/tell-congress-oppose-silencers-bill/

After signing the petition, click the orange banner below to report taking action!