Category: Action Alert

Update: The final report issued by special counsel Robert Mueller was narrowly focused and did not touch on the NRA’s connections with the government of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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Recently, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump‘s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, failed to disclose a “Russian backdoor overture [to the Trump campaign]” that occurred during the May 2016 National Rifle Association annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.

Present at the NRA’s 2016 meeting  for the fourth year running was Russian Central Bank head and Moscow mafia “godfather” Alexander Torshin, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.  Torshin knew then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would also be attending the meeting (to receive the NRA’s endorsement). Through intermediaries, Torshin sent a request to Trump campaign aide Rick Dearborn, asking for a meeting with Trump to discuss “shared Christian values.” Torshin made it clear that he was speaking on behalf of Putin. He also bragged about being a lifetime member of the NRA and a “vocal advocate for gun rights.”

Kushner instructed Dearborn to turn down the request, but Torshin received a nice consolation prize: he was allowed to speak with Donald Trump, Jr. at a private dinner hosted by the NRA at a Louisville restaurant that weekend.

Please contact special prosecutor Bob Mueller through one of the channels below and give him the following message:

I am contacting you today to request that you look into the National Rifle Association’s relationship with the government of Vladimir Putin as part of your investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the campaign/administration of Donald Trump. On November 17, 2017, the New York Times reported new information that indicates the NRA was central to Putin’s efforts to court Trump. Putin ally and Russian Central bank head Alexander Torshin established relationships with NRA leaders like David Keene as early as 2011. During the 2016 NRA annual meeting, which he attended, Torshin requested a meeting with Trump, the featured speaker at the event. While the Trump campaign rebuffed this request, Torshin was allowed to speak to Donald Trump, Jr. at a private dinner hosted by the NRA. We know the NRA shared Russia’s enthusiasm for Trump—they endorsed him and spent more than $30 million to elect him. If this “nonprofit” gun lobby used their resources and influence to facilitate collusion between Donald Trump and Russia, the American people deserve to know. Please hold the NRA accountable for their actions.

Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III
Email: special.counsel@usdoj.gov
Snail Mail: Department of Justice, Special Counsel’s Office, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room B-103, Washington, DC 20530

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

Update: On March 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed an omnibus spending bill into law that contained the (unaltered) provisions of the Fix NICS Act. Texas Senator John Cornyn, one of the co-sponsors of the bill (along with Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy) tweeted the following in response: “The benefits of Omnibus to…fixing gun background check system are important and will save lives.” Thanks to everyone who took this action!

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The congressional response to shootings in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, and so many other American towns and cities has been disappointing to say the least. But Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have teamed up for a clean bill that would prevent a lot of dangerous people from getting guns. The bill is titled the Fix NICS Act of 2017.

The bill would take a number of critical steps to improve the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is queried during background checks for gun buyers:

• Creates new structure and oversight over federal agencies’ submission of records to NICS.
• Provides new incentives to states to get these records into NICS.
• Directs the Attorney General to work with state governments to ensure their progress in providing records NICS, with a special focus on domestic violence records.

Most importantly, this bill is free of the noxious, NRA-drafted language that has polluted gun reform bills like Manchin-Toomey and King-Thompson.

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

I am delighted to see Senators Murphy and Cornyn introduce a clean bill to improve our National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the Fix NICS Act of 2017. I want you to use all the authority and influence you have in the Senate to ensure that this bill succeeds and is passed on the Senate floor. Please co-sponsor this legislation as well. If you have colleagues who have not yet co-sponsored the Fix NICS Act, talk to them and ask them to do so. Most importantly, DO NOT allow the NRA to attach noxious amendments to this bill that take us backwards on public safety. Keep it clean! I will be watching your actions on this bill closely and making future voting/organizing/contribution decisions based on them.

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!

Gun violence prevention advocates across the country are fighting hard to reform laws that arm domestic abusers. Since 2013, at least 25 states—including Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, North Dakota and South Carolina—have passed laws to help ensure the surrender of firearms by domestic abusers.

Want to know what you can do in your state to strengthen laws to keep guns away from domestic abusers?

1) Watch this powerful video about gun-related domestic violence and the dangerous “boyfriend loophole.”  Legislation has been introduced at both the federal and state level to address this problem.

https://www.facebook.com/actdottv/videos/709390952584807/ 

2) Click the link below and select your home state. Scroll down to find information about your state’s laws on “Domestic Violence & Firearms” and “Disarming Prohibited Persons.”

http://lawcenter.giffords.org/search-gun-law-by-state/

3) If you want to connect with a gun violence prevention group in your state to close the “boyfriend loophole” and other problems with your DV laws, leave a message in the Comments field of the Facebook group post of this alert. We will get you connected with someone!

Once you have taken completed one or more of the above steps, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Yesterday, the Sandy Hook families presented their dramatic oral argument about assault weapons in the Remington/Bushmaster case before the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The families are making the argument that Remington engaged in negligent entrustment by supplying the Sandy Hook shooter with a semiautomatic rifle designed for battlefield use, the AR-15. The product was marketed to civilians as a military item that provides infantry with superior firepower.

In Connecticut, negligent entrustment is defined as “supplying of a qualified product by a seller for use by another person when the seller knows, or reasonably should know, the person to whom the product is supplied is likely to, and does, use the product in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or others.”

Attorney Joshua D. Koskoff argued that Remington/Bushmaster must have forseen that these dangerous rifles would make their way into the hands of violent Americans through both the (weak) primary retail market and the unregulated (private sales) secondary market for firearms in the United States.

Please take one of the following two actions:

1) Read the following article about the oral argument in the Hartford Courant:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-sandy-hook-gun-supreme-court-20171110-story.html

2) Click the link below to watch the families’ oral argument by attorney Josh Koskoff. The argument is the first 30 minutes of the video:

http://ct-n.com/ctnplayer.asp?odID=14744&jump=0:00:06

After completing these steps, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Update: Of the 39 gun bills introduced during the two-year legislative term in Michigan that began in January 2017, only one—which made technical changes to records coordination between counties and law enforcement—was signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder. Thanks to everyone who took this action!

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In a terrific hurry, the Michigan state Senate passed a flurry of dreadful gun bills on November 9, 2017 that would do the following:

• Allow concealed carry of loaded guns in K-12 schools.
• Allow 18, 19 and 20 year-olds to get permits to carry concealed guns in public.
• Allow foster parents to store firearms unsafely around children.

These bills could soon be headed to Governor Rick Snyder‘s desk. The good news is that Snyder has vetoed similar legislation in the past. The bad news is that it’s uncertain where he stands this time. Snyder is an NRA-endorsed governor with a solid ‘B’ rating.

Please contact Rick Synder through one of the channels below and give him the following message:

Please veto each of the three dangerous pieces of gun legislation on your desk right now—The “Guns Everywhere” bill allowing concealed carry in K-12 schools, places of worship, stadiums, daycare centers, bars; Lowering of concealed carry age from 21 to 18; Armed foster parents, etc. These bills are reckless and would lead to the unnecessarily loss of human lives in Michigan.  The safety of Michigan residents should not be sacrificed for gun industry/NRA profits. Stand firm and veto this legislation once again. I will be watching your actions closely and making my decisions about voting, organizing and contributing based on them.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder
Phone: (517) 335-7858
Email: https://somgovweb.state.mi.us/GovRelations/ShareOpinion.aspx
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GovernorRickSnyder/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onetoughnerd

After you contact Governor Snyder, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

Comedian Samantha Bee (ex-Daily Show) recently addressed the issue of guns and domestic violence on her show, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” In a lengthy segment, Bee educated viewers about “The Boyfriend Loophole,” which allows abusive boyfriends in 37 states to hold on to their guns when they are under active restraining orders, or if they have been convicted of the misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Currently, only married spouses are forced to surrender their firearms.

Bee then introduced a surprise guest at the end of her segment: cub scout Ames Mayfield, who was the subject of a recent campaign here at One Pulse for America.

Mayfield was kicked out of his cub scout den for asking a Colorado state legislator a legitimate question about her past votes to arm domestic abusers. But Mayfield is now receiving thanks from across the world for doing the right thing, and he has joined a new cub scout den that is delighted to have him.

Bee presented Ames with a “Thunder Cub Merit Badge” that was pretty cool looking and told him, “I’m so sorry you had to leave your den, and this is so selfish of me, but I do think it’s worth it if fewer people get shot.” Ames agreed.

Please contact Samantha Bee through one of the channels below and send her the following message:

Thank you so much for addressing the topic of guns and domestic violence (“The Boyfriend Loophole”) on a recent show. It was also delightful to see you bring Ames Mayfield out, the cub scout who asked a legislator an important question about arming abusers. I so appreciate the fearless way you address the need for tougher gun laws. Please keep it up!

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Email: letterstosam@sambee.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fullfrontalsamb/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FullFrontalSamB

After you contact Samantha Bee, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

In January 2017, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) announced it was partnering with the controversial, Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) in an initiative to reduce gun suicide. Since that time, the AFSP has publicly shunned gun control advocates across the country.

The AFSP-NSSF partnership was supposed to focus on the distribution of suicide prevention materials at gun stores, ranges and clubs across the country. Sadly, there is no evidence that any such materials have been distributed. Meanwhile, AFSP has been removing gun violence survivors and GVP advocates from their ranks:

• The executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, Nick Wilson, was invited to speak at AFSP’s “Out of the Darkness” walk in Portland, Maine on September 24, 2017. He was taken off the agenda at the last minute by national AFSP staff who said they did not want to be seen “endorsing gun control.”
• On October 28, 2017, NSSF materials were distributed at an AFSP walk in San Diego, California. San Diego Brady and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense volunteers were told they could not hand out their materials, however. “As a suicide prevention organization, we are not in the business of saying who can and cannot own firearms,” AFSP’s Jessica van der Stad told them.
• One Pulse for America member Erin Dunkerly published an op-ed  in the New York Times on December 26, 2017 detailing her removal from the board of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of AFSP. Dunkerly joined AFSP after her father committed suicide with a gun. According to Erin,”despite what it claims, the AFSP doesn’t have a neutral stance on guns.”

Meanwhile, the NSSF continues to lobby against virtually every solution that could help to curb gun suicide, including Child Access Prevention laws, Emergency Risk Protection Orders and smart gun technology.

Please contact AFSP CEO Robert Gebbia through one of the channels below and give him the following message:

I am deeply disturbed to see AFSP suppressing peer-reviewed research regarding the risks of keeping firearms in the home.  The way that AFSP is treating gun control supporters is also of great concern. Gun violence survivors like Erin Dunkerly and GVP advocates like Nick Wilson have worked with local AFSP advocates on the ground for decades. Is your initiative with NSSF worth treating your friends in this manner? I can assure you I will not be supporting the activities of AFSP until you revoke this offensive policy of removing gun violence survivors & GVP advocates from your organization and prohibiting them from participating in your suicide prevention walks. This is simply unacceptable and it is NOT how we move forward on suicide prevention in this country.

AFSP CEO Robert Gebbia
Phone: (212) 363-3500, ext. 2012
Email: rgebbia@afsp.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AFSPnational/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/afspnational

After you contact Robert Gebbia, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

On October 12th, Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies, armed with handguns and AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, engaged in a gun battle in the street with a severely mentally ill 30 year-old man named Brian DiSario. Disario was firing back at the deputies with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle sold to him by Pasco County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy Michael Brady.

Officers arrived on-site to hear DiSario kill his mother’s friend, 55 year-old Dave Armstrong, with the AR-15 rifle once owned by deputy Brady. DiSario would later kill himself with it.

The rifle was sold privately to DiSario without a background check.  DiSario’s criminal record included arrests for disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and using threats.  He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder when he was 19 and frequently heard voices in his head. He stopped taking his medication a year ago according to his mother, Kathy Ulbrich.

Ulbrich called the Pasco County Sheriff’s office multiple times in recent months to see if they could remove her son’s rifles from their home. She notified them about his mental illness and past history of violence. They told her there was nothing they could do.

Sheriff Chris Nocco has taken no action against his deputy, Michael Brady. His office has indicated that because Brady’s sale was legal under Florida’s incredibly lax gun laws, than was he did was fine. That is not the case.

Please share the following message with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco through one of the channels listed below:

Please fire deputy Michael Brady for selling an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to Brian DiSario, a severely mentally ill man in your community with a lengthy arrest record. By making this sale, he put this young man and everyone around him at risk unnecessarily. This was an act of gross negligence that led to the deaths of Brian DiSario and Dave Armstrong.  It also terrorized a community and put children at Gulf HIghlands Elementary at risk. Whether or not Deputy Brady’s sale was legal or not is IRRELEVANT because Florida has incredibly weak gun laws. What is relevant is that his act was totally lacking in judgment, which is necessary for a law enforcement officer. You should also acknowledge the failure of your office to take Kathy Ulbrich’s warnings more seriously concerning Brian’s AR-15 and another rifle he was keeping in their home. Did deputy Brady inform her at that time that he had made this sale to her son?

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco
Phone: (727) 847-5878
Email: See form at bottom of https://pascosheriff.com/contact/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pascosheriff/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PascoSheriff

After you contact Sheriff Nocco, click the orange banner below to report taking action!

The FBI just released a cache of documents associated with the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. It is now being reported that a resident of Newtown warned police that she overheard Adam Lanza threatening to perpetrate a mass shooting before he killed 20 children and six adults.

The woman told investigators she heard Adam Lanza say he “planned to kill his mother and children” in Newtown. Nancy Lanza said that Adam “had an assault weapon and that she was scared of him,” according to the woman.

The police told the woman there was nothing they could do because Nancy Lanza owned the massive stockpile of firearms and ammunition in her house and could do whatever she wanted with it.

Nothing was ever done about the tip and Adam Lanza would go on to commit one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle equipped with high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Please share the following message and article link today with your Friends on Facebook (share it on the Public setting to facilitate sharing):

I was horrified to learn that a Newtown resident had warned police that Adam Lanza was going to perpetrate a mass shooting BEFORE he killed 20 children and six adults on December 14, 2012. You know what the police told this woman? They said they couldn’t do anything because Nancy Lanza was a legal owner of the arsenal of firearms and ammunition in her house (including a gun safe IN ADAM’S BEDROOM where she was not allowed to go). This is gun culture run amok and you can draw a direct line from the negligence here to the non-response we are seeing to the Las Vegas shooting. We MUST pressure our government officials at all levels to do MUCH more on gun safety and gun reform.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sandy-hook-shooting-investigation-fbi-documents/

After you share the article, click the orange banner below to report taking action!