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Restore Pulse Memorial Rainbow Crosswalk

Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith, in front of the restored crosswalk. R: Florida locals coloring in the crosswalk. Images shared with Newsweek by Carlos Guillermo Smith
Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith, in front of the restored crosswalk. R: Florida locals coloring in the crosswalk. Images shared with Newsweek by Carlos Guillermo Smith

22 August 2025- In a cruel gesture,  the rainbow crosswalk memorial to the Pulse Nightclub shooting victims was painted over.  Florida Furtively Painted Over A Rainbow Crosswalk Outside Pulse Nightclub | HuffPost UK U.S. News.

Orlando citizens outraged at this sneaky covert operation swiftly and defiantly re-colored the rainbow back in chalk (some earlier reports suggested they painted it).

In June 2016, 49 people lost their lives when a gunman attacked the Pulse nightclub, deliberately targeting LGBTQ people.  This violent tragedy inspired actor and activist George Takei to start the One Pulse for America initiative, to lobby for gun law reform.

 

Some sources say a Trump directive to paint over any non-standard crosswalks was the reason; other news sources claim Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is responsible.  Ron DeSantis paints over Pulse Memorial rainbow crosswalk in the dead of night

Whoever was responsible, we want to send a strong message:  You can’t erase the crosswalk and you can’t erase the truth of what happened at Pulse.

ACTION:

Please take the action(s) of your choice:-

 

1.  Sign a petition to demand the memorial be restored: 

Petition · Restore the Pulse Memorial Crosswalk in Orlando – United States · Change.org

2.  Share an article: about the rainbow crosswalk to your social media.  There are several links on this Action Alert; or choose this one:  Ron DeSantis paints over Pulse Memorial rainbow crosswalk in the dead of night

Suggested message for the above action:  The rainbow crosswalk is a monument to the 49 people killed by gun violence at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in 2016.  They were targeted for being part of the LGBTQ community.  The crosswalk was painted over – but the people of Orlando struck back and colored it back in chalk.  I am a member of One Pulse for America, founded by George Takei following the mass shooting at Pulse.  I condemn this attempt to remove the memorial to these people, and we at One Pulse for America will keep working for gun law reform.  We want this memorial restored!

3.  Join the discussion on the Newsweek article about those great people who colored the rainbow crosswalk back in- Florida Locals Defy Ron DeSantis By Restoring Pulse Rainbow Crosswalk – Newsweek

4. Reply to discussion on the topic on Twitter/X

Below is a suggested tweet: changing it to your own words, please add it to a relevant discussion on Twitter/X, perhaps Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s tweet/X here:  Mayor Buddy Dyer on X: “We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue. But we know that while this crosswalk has been removed, Orlando’s commitment to honoring the 49 can never be erased. https://t.co/4LdXvLUiom” / X

Draft Tweet / X: As a member of One Pulse For America, the gun law reform founded by actor & activist @GeorgeTakei in response to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting, I insist the rainbow tribute to those targeted in the violent gun attack be restored permanently.

 

Once you have taken this action, fill out the three fields below (we will only use your info to count the number of actions taken) and click the orange banner to report taking action!  You can take the action several times, please report each action you take!

 

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Remind parents, carers guns and children do not mix

June 2025 – 6192:  the number of young people shot in the USA in 2023. The Trace reports:-

“6,192 – The number of children and teenagers shot in 2023

“Firearms surpassed motor vehicle crashes to become the leading cause of death among children and teenagers for the first time in 2020. Since the pandemic, most of these deaths have been homicides. This is in contrast to the U.S. population at large, for which suicide is the main driver of firearm death. Of the 6,192 children and teenagers under 18 who were shot in 2023, more than 1,600 died. [Gun Violence Archive]”

There have been at least 4 children hurt or killed in gun accidents in their family homes in the last days of May 2025.  One was fatal.  All of these were wholly avoidable.

As any member of the gun-owning ‘well-regulated militia’ is supposed to know, to prevent accidents all guns in a home should be unloaded, in a safe, and that guns and ammo must be stored separately.

Brigham City, Utah, police said:

“If you don’t have a safe then you can get what’s called a trigger lock that you put a lock on the trigger of the gun… You can buy those when you buy the gun, they are cheap. Or most police departments, you can go to the police department and get those trigger locks. We give them away for free.”

Police would like gun owners to discuss how dangerous guns are with their children, and to tell children to tell an adult immediately if they find a gun.

ACTION:

Please just copy and share the message below (customize it if you like) on your own social media or discuss with your friends

 

Some American gun owners are still not getting the message that guns and children do not mix.  In the last week, at least four children were injured, one fatally, by finding loaded guns – guns which legally should never have been left lying around where children were able to get them.  In 2023, 6,193 children were in shooting incidents; many found loaded guns and suffered the consequences.  Every time, the parent/carer thinks it can’t happen to them.

If you keep a gun around children, make sure it is stored safely, unloaded, somewhere they cannot access it.

Police would like gun owners to discuss how dangerous guns are with their children, and to tell children to tell an adult immediately if they find a gun.

Please share this post; it might well stop a tragedy.

 

Once you have shared the above message on social media/to a friend by email, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

(we never share your information; your email is used just to count how many different people take each action).

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Georgia Twins’ gun deaths – Sign to Demand Robust Investigation

March 2025

The family of twin brothers mysteriously found dead on a Georgia mountain continues to dispute the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s claim that their deaths resulted from a murder-suicide.  We will demand a proper, wider investigation.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting the town’s County Sheriff’s Office with the death investigation. Nineteen year-old twins Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis, both 19, of Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia were found dead by hikers – in an area they had apparently not visited before.  They had been planning to fly to Boston.

Both men were found with gunshot wounds. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released information claiming its preliminary investigation reveals the deaths to possibly be a murder suicide.  The claim of a murder/suicide has sparked understandable outrage and shock in the community and wider audiences.

Action:   To take this action, please fill in your name in the fields below, and your name will be added to our letter to Special Agent Williams and the FBI.  We will share your name – but not your email address – on the letter.  We never share your email address.

Our letter to the investigating officer (or contact him yourself – details below) and the FBI demanding a proper investigation into the deaths will ask for an apology to the distraught family:  the early suicide/murder suggestion is not looking likely to the family and others.  We will ask for the FBI to be involved, specifically that their Hate Crimes experts investigate any and all hate crime angles.  Additionally a firefighter has been charged with circulating photos of the deceased young men, and we will demand they are fully investigated, any links they have to hate groups pursued fully, and that this be treated by the FBI as a potential hate crime.

FYI – Special Agent in Charge Kim Williams
kim.williams@gbi.ga.gov

 

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Sign Petition to Reinstate Gun Law Reform Campaigner Commentator Joy Reid

Joy Reid

Joy Reid

March 2025

The shock decision by MSNBC to cancel Joy Reid’s show The ReidOut is a huge mistake, and news professionals, rights campaigners, and her many viewers are fighting back.

Ms Reid is widely known for bringing attention to a wide spectrum of issues, and has done tremendous work and reporting on gun law reform issues.

You will find more about her and her work here – and please do sign and share this Move On petition the link below takes you to:

Bring Back Joy Reid! | MoveOn

Once you have taken this action, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action! (We never share this information. It is just so we know who has taken an action)

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Tell Your Congress people: We Condemn Confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Head!

ACTION ALERT

Question:  What could be worse than putting RFK Jr in charge of health? Answer:   Installing Kash Patel as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  At the time of writing, his nomination was just approved.  Let’s at least ensure our elected representatives know we condemn this disasterous move.

We were concerned about progress being halted on gun crime research under RFK Jr.  We are even more concerned about inexperienced, blundering Trump right-hand-man being put in charge of the FBI.

The FBI is absolutely crucial in fighting America’s gun crime epidemic on the front line.  They have foiled mass shooting plots; they investigate racially-motivated shootings.  What could happen under Patel is all but unthinkable.

For this action, please call your Congress people on 202-224-3121 and/or sign this petition from Civic Shout concerning Patel’s possibly perjuring himself – concerning the mass firing of FBI agents who investigated January 6th!  Just click on this link:

Charge Kash Patel with Perjury | Civic Shout 

Once you have done this action, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action! (We never share this information. It is just so we know who has taken an action)

 

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Block RFK Jr from Health & Human Services Post

RFK Jr and Trump

ACTION ALERT

Trump wants to appoint bizarre, pro-gun RFK Jr to head the Department of Health & Human Services:  Let’s try to stop it.

Whoever gets into this department can set back gun law reform.  RFK Jr doesn’t believe guns are the problem:  he’s on record blaming video games and antidepressants! Somehow the rest of the world has games and medication yet doesn’t remotely approach the USA’s gun death and injury levels.  You probably also know some of his anti-science stances as well:  he is extremely anti-vaccine, and believes in raw milk despite the health risks.  He is likely to oppose any future research into gun culture and use by the DH&HS if he gets in, and could undo its existing work.

For this action, please sign this petition from Move On.  Just click on this link:

RFK Jr. is not fit to lead the Department of Health and Human Services! | MoveOn

Once you have done this action, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action! (We never share this information. It is just so we know who has taken an action)

 

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Save Someone from Gun Violence this Holiday Season

Many of us are preparing to visit friends, relatives for upcoming holidays.  Whether you are hosting or heading to house parties, stays with relatives, whatever you’re going to do, please take a few extra precautions.  We are all expecting fun, good times, a chance to catch up.  The awful truth is that every year the lethal cocktail of unsecured weapons, alcohol, arguments, drugs will result in the shooting of people of all ages.

Let’s do all we can to prevent tragedy – a little prevention will save lives.

ACTION:

1 Please read these tips – and act on them:-

  • If gun owners are in your home, or homes/venues you will visit, ensure their guns will be locked up unloaded, away from children and adults alike.   Most police departments will give out free gun security advice and devices.
  • If you have any reservations at all about how a gun owner stores and handles their weapon:  consider not being around them.
  • If you find yourself in the company of gun owners who are beginning to behave erratically (whether because of alcohol, drugs, arguments – any reason), leave as soon as you can safely do so.  Go as soon as you feel concern.
  • Keep an eye on children where guns are present:  it only takes a moment to find a gun and pull a trigger.  Toy guns?  Say no to realistic-looking ones.
  • Do not be afraid to tell anyone not to bring a gun to your home.  Don’t be afraid to say no to visiting places where gun safety is not strictly observed.

2  Please share this message with your friends, family – it might well prevent a tragedy.

 

https://www.onepulseforamerica.com/action-alert/action-save-some…s-holiday-season/ ‎

Once you have read and shared this action alert, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!  We never share your details; we only use this information to count the actions taken.

 

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Open letter to Governor Polis: Red Flag Laws & Club Q Shooting

24 November 2022

To:  Governor Polis
Copy: Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers
Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez
Colorado Attorney General  Philip J. Weiser

Dear Governor Polis

We the undersigned members of gun law reform group One Pulse for America are shocked and outraged by the mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q:  the suspect should have been banned under red flag laws from owning a weapon.   The victims should be alive and well today:  Colorado has red flag laws.

The suspect threatened to use a bomb one and a half years ago:  the public had to evacuate homes.  And yet here we are.

The woman who owed the home his mother lived in – the mother he threatened to blow up – said:  “If the justice system had followed through with something, anything … he wouldn’t likely have had access to be able to get a weapon and five people wouldn’t have died,”

The AP published their findings:  “An Associated Press analysis earlier this year found Colorado courts issued 151 gun surrender orders since the state’s red flag law took effect in 2020, three surrender orders for every 100,000 adults in the state. That’s a third of the average ratio of orders issued for the 19 states and District of Columbia with surrender laws on their books.”

We demand that law enforcement, the state’s judicial system hold an enquiry into how this man was allowed to have a gun, and to where feasible review and proactively seek out any other individuals who have so far evaded the state’s very loose net:  before another tragedy strikes.

We call on you Governor Polis to take ownership of this situation – because clearly law enforcement and the state’s prosecutors have not done so.

Please respond to our concerns with action, and with correspondence to Suzanne Kelly by return.

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VOTE!

October 2022

The 2022 elections are upon us.  Your vote is vital to send a mandate you want gun law reform.

All you need to do to take this action is to vote in the November 2022 election you are eligible to vote for in your state. You can take this action more than once:  maybe you can help someone get registered, get to a polling station, etc. Some districts are won or lost by a handful of votes; you really are making a difference when you use your right to vote. Once you have sent a postal vote, made a plan to vote, just fill in the form at the bottom of this action alert – we won’t ever send your details to anyone – we are just counting up the number of actions One Pulse for America’s members have taken.

We are nearly at 50,000 actions taken by YOU! Please help us reach this unprecedented milestone – but most importantly – please stand up for gun law reform.

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Demand Senate passes bipartisan gun law reform!

Washington 12 June 2022 – Senate negotiators struck a bipartisan deal on a narrow set of gun safety measures with sufficient support to move through the evenly divided Senate.  This is a significant development toward gun law reform and saving lives.

As The New York Times reports, “The agreement, put forth by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats and endorsed by President Biden and top Democrats, includes enhanced background checks to give authorities time to check the juvenile and mental health records of any prospective gun buyer under the age of 21 and a provision that would, for the first time, extend to dating partners a prohibition on domestic abusers having guns.”

 

ACTION:  As soon as possible, please write to both of your senators – whatever their stance is on gun law reform, and tell them you demand this passes the Senate.  If they already support gun law reform, write to thank them in advance for their vote. If they oppose this measure, write to them to tell them you will never vote for any NRA-funded candidate or any candidate who will not pass gun law reform.  Your speaking out is KEY here – the senators who want gun law reform need to know you are with them, and the senators who oppose gun law reform definitely watch and count correspondence they get on gun law reform.  Tweet to them, post on social media too – let people see that you care.

Please contact your senators_ through the link below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

 

Dear Senators, an opportunity to save lives is with you – I write to demand you vote for the bipartisan gun law reform bill the House has passed.  It will not solve everything – but in the wake of Buffalo, Uvalde, and other recent avoidable gun tragedies, you have to reform gun laws now.  I will be voting in November, and I pledge to never vote for an NRA-sponsored candidate, nor for any senator who votes against this measure.  Gun rights do not outweigh the right to life of American citizens.

Find your congressperson here:  https://www.conginst.org/contact-congress/

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

 

Suggested tweet to senators who want to pass this measure:  I know you will vote for the gun law reforms coming before the Senate; thank you. I vow to never vote for any @NRA-supported candidate. and will note how the Senators vote on this measure. This time it’s different.

Suggested tweet to senators who are anti-gun law reform:  I consider your pro- @NRA policies are responsible for America’s shocking gun death toll. If you will not change, you will be voted out. Rethink your position; I vote and I will watch how you vote on the upcoming gun law reforms coming to the Senate.