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Tell Senators to Vote Yes on Background Checks Bills

11 March 2021, Washington DC – The House passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021.  We absolutely must have the Senate pass these two bills.

Virtually ever gun law reform group there is supports these bills; some claim public support for the bills to be near 90%.

We cannot just hope for the best.

Even if your senator has said they are for the bills, let them know you support them.

If you have senators who are against the measures, tell them in no uncertain terms you will vote them out.

ACTION

Please tell your senators you want these bills passed!  We are giving you a selection of ways in which to be heard – write to them with our message, sign existing petitions, send letters.  Please take as many of these actions as you can – the more the better.  Please also share this Action Alert (copy and paste the URL to share, or just click the Facebook and Twitter icons).

I urge you to support the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021.  

I am a member of gun law reform group One Pulse for America.  We know that no law-abiding gun owner can object to these bills, which undoubtedly will save lives.  Thank you.  I will be watching to see who votes for and against the bills, and I pledge to never vote for any senator who votes against them.  I’m depending on you to combat America’s gun death and injury tragedies.

 Phone:   (202) 224-3121

Use this link to find your senators:  https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?OrderBy=state&Sort=ASC

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Tell Your Senators To Approve George Floyd Bill

4 March 2021, Washington DC – The House passed a bill that may prevent deaths such as that which George Floyd suffered at the hands of police.

The legislation aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing.

As NBC reports, “The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, H.R. 1280, passed 220-212.

“A version of the bill passed last year but stalled in the Senate, which was then under Republican control. The House bill passed Wednesday night still has to go to the Senate, where it will need at least 10 Republican votes for passage.

“The bill is named after Floyd, the Black man who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for minutes.

“The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired, and he faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

“His trial and jury selection are scheduled to begin Monday.

“The bill, among other things, would ban neck restraints and “no knock” warrants in drug cases at the federal level. It would also reform qualified immunity, which is a doctrine that makes it difficult to sue officers.

“Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., who introduced the bill, said she is confident that House members will be able to work with the Senate to get it passed. She said that after the last bill passed, “many of our Republican colleagues said they thought they could get to yes on this, but they had some difficulties.”

ACTION

Please tell your senators you want this bill passed!

Please contact your senators through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I urge you to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in every way possible.  There is urgent need to reform the nation’s police forces. 

Naturally there will be opposition to this bill:  opponents want the status quo.  We cannot afford to allow innocent people, whether suspected of a crime or not, to continue to be fatally shot, suffocated,  injured.  I call on you to address the gun culture, violence, racial prejudice that is accepted by far too many police forces. No reasonable person can object to this bill, and I will be watching to see how you help it along and that you approve it.  If you do not intend to support it, I want to hear from you urgently with your reasoning. 

I am a member of gun law reform group One Pulse for America, and I will not tolerate the status quo.  There must never be another death like George Floyd’s or Breonna Taylor’s.  I am convinced the bill’s changes to the use of lethal force, no-knock raids, and mandatory bodycam use will absolutely save lives.  As the police are so keen to say when it suits them ‘if you aren’t doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to fear’:  a good police officer should welcome, not fear, the act.

 

Phone:   (202) 224-3121

Use this link to find your senators:  https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?OrderBy=state&Sort=ASC

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Expel and/or Charge Marjorie Taylor Greene

Wednesday 27 January, Washington DC – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA) moved to have Marjorie Taylor Greene expelled from Congress.  At One Pulse for America, we cannot think of a single reason she should remain.

She pushes Q Anon conspiracy.

She called for violence against Democrats and FBI agents.

She has no qualms with the insurrectionists.

Earlier this week a video surfaced from 2019 of her shockingly harassing David Hogg by following him around DC and the Capitol, shouting abuse at him.

Mr Hogg, 18, is a tireless, admirable campaigner for gun law reform since his experience at Marjory Stoneman High, scene of a tragic shooting,  which Greene says was ‘staged’.

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton endorsed calls to remove Ms Greene on Wednesday.

“This woman should be on a watch list,” Ms Clinton wrote on Twitter. “Not in Congress.”

David Hogg wrote to March for our Lives supporters:  “People like Marjorie Taylor Greene are dangerous. She is a vicious, dehumanizing, radicalized bully. The amount of disinformation that gun-rights supporters have spread about my friends and me is ridiculous — and it’s almost gotten us killed. We’ve been chased off the road, threatened with guns at our hotels, and have received thousands of death threats. We’ve had memes made about us, like the one Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on her personal Facebook referring to me as “little hitler.” I was 17 at the time and again, was just asking lawmakers to do something to stop kids from getting killed.”

Statistically, it is not likely the House will vote to expel her, but some form of action must be taken.  It would be nice to see her expelled or at least censured.  There may be a case to say that her inexcusable abuse of Mr Hogg is harassment and that her talk of having high-profile figures killed could be a criminal offense and/or coersion (if it intimidates elected officials or intends to).

ACTION

Please contact Speaker Nancy Pelosi through one of the channels below and give her the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Dear Madam Speaker

The conduct of Marjorie Greene is a stain on Congress.  From her support of discredited and dangerous conspiracy theories, her calls for violence against high-profile figures and FBI agents, her support for insurrection, through to her inexcusable treatment of David Hogg, some form of action be taken.

Whether or not successful, a move to expel her as proposed by Rep. Gomez seems a wise course.  We do not avoid asking for justice just because the vote may not go they way justice dictates.  I also think there is a case for her to face criminal prosecutions  on harassment, credible threats of violence, intimidation, death threats and coersion.  I hope you will use your influence to see every possible sanction is taken against her.

As a member of gun law reform group One Pulse for America, I also ask that you expedite gun law reform, which now thankfully will at least no longer be blocked when it goes to the Senate.

I want to see you and all your colleagues, all gun violence survivors treated with respect and dignity, and be able to carry on without fear.  Ms. Greene’s behavior is a threat to everyone.

Phone:  202-225-0100
Email: (form) https://www.speaker.gov/contact
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NancyPelosi/ 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi

OR send this tweet

@SpeakerPelosi I am shocked at how @mtgreenee treated gun violence survivor @davidhogg111 . I hope to see @RepJimmyGomez succeed in his bid to have her expelled. I believe she should face charges re her credible threats to life. Gun law reform must be expedited. Thank you.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Enforce Gun-Free Capitol Building Regulations

Several Congressmen and women persist in bringing firearms into Congress despite the law and Speaker Pelosi’s efforts to date.

Despite a far-right attempted coup on 6 January which saw several deaths, many injuries, vandalism and theft, Congresswoman Lauren Boebart and her GOP peers Congressmen Andy Harris, Andy Biggs and Rick Allen continue to refuse metal detector screening, metal detector wand searches and bag searches.

This refusal is all the more dangerous and contemptible in the face of those who were killed and injured.

Boebart is linked to extremists and discredited conspiracy-pedlars  Q-Anon; as she shares their ideals, she must not be allowed into Congress with a weapon.

There is a new $5,000 fine for each time the search is refused, but this apparently has not yet been enforced.

 

ACTION

We will write to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, supporting  her measures and demanding they are applied to everyone entering the Capitol.

Please contact Speaker Pelosi through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Dear Madam Speaker

I am delighted that you arranged for metal detectors and screenings for all who enter the House and Senate.  The scenes of 6 January must never be repeated.  I also applaud your introduction of $5,000 fines to those who will not comply:  however, no one should be admitted who will not comply.

In a more innocent age, those who were elected to Congress  may have had widely-differening values – but virtually all of them had values that precluded any violent insurrection attempts involving murder, assault and theft.

Sadly, there are a tiny minority of Congresspeople today who have chosen to align themselves with far-right, white-supremacist, conspiracy-theory adhering zealots.  This is why no one should be given the option of entering Congress without passing through screening to ensure they are not carrying guns.  Some of these people who debase Congress with their contempt for law and embrace of violence have proven they cannot be trusted not to use a weapon.

By all means fine these people – but going forward, as a member of gun law reform group One Pulse for America, I demand for everyone’s safety that no one entering Congress is armed.  If we expect our school children to submit to gun searches, then our lawmakers must do so too starting right now.

-and/or- send this tweet:

@SpeakerPelosi Please ensure no one is admitted to House or Senate if they have a weapon on them or refuse to be searched/go through metal detectors. Those refusing these measures have links to the violent far-right which sought insurrection on 6 January: we cannot trust them.

 

Phone:  202-225-0100

Email: (form) https://www.speaker.gov/contact

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NancyPelosi/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Sign letter to President-Elect Biden, send messages of support

On the 10th anniversary of the Tucson Arizona shooting, President-Elect Joe Biden issued a statement on the tragedy, discussing the wounding of his friend Gabby Giffords, one of those shot that day.

Mr Biden said: “As President, I pledge to continue to work together with Congresswoman Giffords, and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country, to defeat the NRA and end the epidemic of gun violence in America.”

The NRA is unsurprisingly livid at this promise.

To add your name to the letter, simply add your name, town and state to this Action Alert post on our Facebook page.  Our letter will be the text as shown below.


Please add your name to our collective letter and/or contact President-Elect Joe Biden through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Dear President-Elect Biden

Your large victory over incumbent Trump gives you a clear mandate, and I am delighted you will be our 46th president.  I am writing to you as a member of One Pulse for America, the 81,000-strong gun law reform group formed by George Takei following the Pulse Nightclub shooting.  Please know you have my full support when it comes to stopping the gun death epidemic as you rightly put it in your statement on the anniversary of the Tucon Arizona shooting.

The interpretation the NRA puts on the 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with a well-regulated militia.  The NRA is not an educational body; it is a Russian-funded lobbying group hit by scandal after scandal – while tens of thousands die needlessly each year, victims of woefully-inadequate gun laws.

We cannot tolerate armed insurgents in our nation’s capitol, in our state capitols and on our streets.  Thank you for prioritizing gun law reform.

We the undersigned stand with you, and congratulate you, Vice-President Elect Harris, and your team on your election.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joebiden

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JoeBiden

 

Once you have made contact and/or added your name to our letter, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Condemn decision not to bring charges over Jacob Blake shooting

5 January, 2021 – Wishaw, WI – Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley announced that Kenosha Police Department Officer Rusten Sheskey will not be charged for shooting Jacob Blake in the back seven times, which paralyzed him from the waist down.

As WSAW-TV reports:  “Officer Rusten Sheskey’s shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23, captured on bystander video, turned the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin during a summer marked by protests over police brutality and racism. More than 250 people were arrested in the days that followed, including 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, a self-styled medic with an assault rifle who is charged in the fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of a third.”

Sheskey shot him seven times – in the back – at point-blank range.  State investigators had said only that officers saw a knife on the floor of the SUV and hadn’t said whether Blake threatened anyone with it.  The police union seems to claim he had a knife in his hand; the police did not use bodycams.

It is unclear whether Mr Blake and his legal representative had any input into the investigation process at all, whereas the police union’s opinion carried weight with the DA.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump tweeted:  “Nowhere does the video footage show a knife extended and aimed to establish the requisite intent. Also, to establish that the officer reasonably believed he was in danger… if he felt in danger, why did he chase Jacob Blake?”

Earlier Mr Crump told a press conference:  “We feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice… Officer Sheskey’s actions sparked outrage and advocacy throughout the country, but the district attorney’s decision not to charge the officer who shot Jacob in the back multiple times, leaving him paralyzed, further destroys trust in our justice system. This sends the wrong message to police officers throughout the country. It says it is OK for police to abuse their power and recklessly shoot their weapon, destroying the life of someone who was trying to protect his children.”

 Chris Ott, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin said:ACLU said of the decision:

“We are disappointed that, instead of holding police accountable for another example of their repeated use of excessive force against people of color, District Attorney Graveley declined to charge Officer Rusten Sheskey in the shooting of Jacob Blake. This continues the cycle of enabling police violence and evading accountability when they seriously injure and harm a Black person. Based on the video footage of the incident, it remains hard to see any reason to shoot Mr. Blake in the back repeatedly. But, as we’ve seen so many times before, the police in this case were held to a different standard of responsibility than the rest of us… This officer will continue with his career with the mistaken belief that he has done no wrong, while Jacob Blake will remain paralyzed and left to deal with the consequences of this officer’s actions. Today, justice was not served.”

ACTION:

Please contact Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

As a member of gun law reform group One Pulse for America, I am disgusted but sadly not surprised that a very flawed investigation allowed a very flawed police officer to get away with shooting Jacob  Blake in the back seven times, paralyzing him.

As Attorney Ben Crump points out:  “Nowhere does the video footage show a knife extended and aimed to establish the requisite intent. Also, to establish that the officer reasonably believed he was in danger… if he felt in danger, why did he chase Jacob Blake?”

If you continue to allow an officer who already had five complaints against him to continue in his role, you are responsible for all his further actions.  If you continue to allow Wisconsin’s officers to operate without using body cam each and every time they encounter a suspect, you are failing to protect your citizens.  You should be ashamed at this outcome.  I want to hear from you with details of what you are personally doing to ensure this does not happen again – and to ensure Mr Blake will be given the support he and his family need after police failures and inadequacies paralyzed him.

-OR- send this tweet:

If you are serious, I want to hear you are ensuring WI police are trained, equipped with bodycams that are used every single time they engage. Any officer with 5 complaints/issues must be dismissed. Jacob Blake was shot 7 times: nothing excuses this and the DA’s poor decision.

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Stop former cop Aguirre owning guns, review his cases

Houston, 14 December – former Police Captain Mark Anthony Aguirre falsely, incorrectly decides that an AC repairman is involved in massive vote fraud.  Failing to convince the police or other authorities of his bizarre claim:  he is alleged to have hit his victim’s vehicle, forcing him to stop:  and then pointing a gun at his head.

If the name Mark Anthony Aguirre is familiar, he was linked to a K-Mart policing action which was so disastrous the controversy prompted the largest internal affairs investigation in HPD’s history and later resulted in disciplinary action against 32 officers and staff members. A jury acquitted Aguirre of five counts of official oppression.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Aguirre “crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed.”

The false, ridiculous vote fraud conspiracy he believed seems to have concerned Facebook’s Zuckerberg’s getting Hispanic children to forge votes.  Unsurprisingly, Aguirre could not get anyone in law enforcement to agree to any arrests.  Instead, he decided to operate outwith the law, and drew a weapon on an innocent man, forcing him to stop his vehicle.  No trace of voter fraud was found – only repairman’s tools.

Aguirre apparently is linked to the ‘Liberty Center for God and Country’ group.  There was a Go Fund Me appeal, since removed, created to ‘fund the vote fraud work’ Aguirre and others were involved in.   One news source says Aguirre, 63, was allegedly paid $266,400 by the Liberty Center for God and Country to investigate voter fraud in the lead up to the election

This is a former police chief who has shown a serious lack of regard for human rights, fire arm safety, law and order:  it’s time to ask for his former cases to be reviewed:  and for him to lose the right to have firearms.

As an aside, in a slogan taking us back to the McCarthy era of communist-hating, the Liberty Center told its 900 Facebook page members that ‘the only good communist is a dead communist’ – feel free to report this post too, made as it is to highly-paranoid, suggestible people who will undoubtedly include gun owners in its membership.  Report here:  https://www.facebook.com/libertycgc

ACTION

Please contact DA Kim Hogg through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Dear DA Ogg, As a gun law reform campaigner I appreciate your strong words concerning the illegal, dangerous, armed attack ex Houston police chief Mark Anthony Aguirre made on an innocent party. As you know, he decided to take the law into his own hands concerning non-existent voter fraud he believed was going on, and brandished a gun at an innocent man. You were right when you said ‘it is lucky no one was killed.’  I am sure we will see a robust case built against Aguirre, and I do hope one result is he will be prohibited from ever having firearms again. Additionally, I wonder about the robustness of any past convictions his evidence may have influenced, and in how a man like him with no understanding of law became a police captain – I hope his past work will be looked at too. Thank you.

-OR- this tweet

@kimoggforda I appreciate your strong words re ex Houston police chief Mark Anthony Aguirre who brandished a gun at an innocent party. You were right when you said ‘it is lucky no one was killed.’ I do hope he will be prohibited from ever having firearms again. 

Phone:  (713) 274-5800

Email  (form):  https://www.kim-ogg.com/contact_us

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kimoggforda

Twitter:  @kimoggforda

 

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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What happened to Rodney Applewhite? Demand NMSP answer

 

November 19 – Los Lunas, New Mexico – a young man is driving home for Thanksgiving.  He is shot dead by New Mexico State Police.  There is  hardly any press coverage, and it seems the family still don’t know what happened.

According to Searchlight New Mexico, Rodney Applewhite, 25, was driving through New Mexico late last week on his way to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with his mother and other family members.

Just outside of Los Lunas, on the last leg of a trip that started in South Bend, Indiana, a New Mexico State Police officer attempted to pull Applewhite over for what was described as a traffic stop. It was 8:32 a.m., a NMSP press release said. About 10 minutes later, two state troopers tried to arrest Applewhite. When an altercation occurred with the first officer, the second officer shot Applewhite, firing “at least one round,” the NMSP said. Applewhite, unarmed, died that day in the hospital.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I’m heartbroken,” Applewhite’s mother, Katrina Cox, said by phone. “Why is it always shoot to kill? Because he’s tall and he’s a black man?”

Cox said she did not find out about her son’s death until nine hours after the Nov. 19 incident.

At that point, Applewhite was overdue to arrive in Phoenix, and they were worried that he hadn’t answered their calls. When his aunt saw an online news report about a shooting on a New Mexico highway, she sent it to his sister and his mom.

Leader Publications quote the police as saying Applewhite left a traffic stop (they don’t say why he was stopped).  ““’During the altercation, the male suspect grabbed one of the officer’s firearm,” according to New Mexico State Police. “At that point, the other State Police officer fired at least one round from his department issued sidearm, striking the male suspect.’”

ACTION:

We would like One Pulse for America members to contact New Mexico State Police and demand that the bodycam footage is released in its entirety.  Ask them why he was stopped in the first place.

Please contact New Mexico State Police through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

I want to find out what happened to Rodney Applewhite, who was shot dead after a traffic stop on 19 November.  Why was he stopped in the first place?  I understand he was unarmed; I read your claim that he grabbed a gun off of a state police officer:  are your officers readily disarmed?  Why was the weapon out of its holster?  The many questions Mr Applewhite’s family and friends have – and that the public have – are not being answered.  The bodycam footage must be released in its entirety now.

I hope to see this death the subject of a full, independent investigation.  I have to wonder whether race played a place in this killing, and without the footage, it is impossible to know how this man lost his life.  I expect the footage released and I expect your reply.

Phone:  (505) 841-9256
Email (form):  https://sharenm.org/new-mexico-state-police/new-mexico-state-police-dispatch  

Facebook*:  https://www.facebook.com/NMStatePolice  

Twitter: @NMStatePolice

 

Suggested tweet:  @NMStatePolice What happened to Rodney Applewhite? Why did you stop him? Why did you shoot him? Where is the bodycam footage supporting claim he was ‘resisting’ and had to be executed? Why haven’t you told the family everything? What is going on? @FBI cd this be another 4 u?

  •  if a Facebook page does not let you start a new post, please just paste your message into a comment of a recent post.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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VOTE!

Monday 2 November 2020 – Tomorrow is election day, and while we would never tell you how to vote, we will tell you which candidates support life-saving gun law reform (Biden/Harris, McGrath in Kentucky).  We can also tell you who has done u-turns on their previous gun law promises (Trump) and who has single-handedly used their position to stop bipartisan bills the Houses sent to the Senate and brags about it (Mitch McConnell).  We can share information about the NRA’s expenditure on candidates.

Some forces are at work to make Americans afraid to go to the polls.  Many of us have thought such times were in the past – we were wrong.  We have seen our fellow citizens pepper-sprayed.  We have seen a Biden convoy dangerously attacked on the roads of Texas.  We have seen armed, threatening men trying to intimidate voters at the polls. We have seen ballots misplaced in Florida and we have seen voting lines made as long and as uncomfortable as possible.  Everyone who has made it past these obstacles to vote – whoever for – is a hero.  We need to have a government that will abolish these and myriad other problems, and we can get that:  if we all vote.

ACTION:

To take this action:  VOTE, and ask at least one other person in your family/group of close friends to vote as well.

This may give you an opportunity to discuss the important issues of this election, not least we need to change the system which takes 40,000 peoples ‘ lives every year through gun deaths.

If you have already voted, please fill in the fields below to show you have voted.  If you are voting tomorrow, please fill the fields in afterwards.

This election and America’s gun laws are a matter of life and death, so thank you for taking one of the most important actions you can:  voting.

 

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Breonna’s Law: Support KY Rep Attica Scott’s proposal

They arrested her and her friends who were caught in a police net during a peaceful protest and charged them with vandalism and felony rioting charges.

The arresting officer made her stop filming events ‘or her phone would be broken’.

They waited ages until the hard evidence and public outcry made them drop the trumped-up charges.

They let ridiculous felony charges hang over her head for weeks.

 

Still, she persists.

Please click here for details and to sign Kentucky Representative Attica Scott’s call for Breonna’s Law, which would see the end of deadly ‘no knock’ raids and increase police accountability.

Once you have made contact, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!