Strollers abandoned, parents hiding children in dumpsters, flags covered in blood. Over July 4 holiday weekend, more than 220 were gunned down & killed in the US.
This heartbreaking carnage is unique to America - but we can end it if we turn our anger into action. Here’s how (🧵)
Uvalde, Pulse, & Sandy Hook all used assault weapons. Any gun that can shoot dozens of people in
less than a minute should not be available for civilian use.
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban worked, & we’ve got to reinstate it by passing @RepCicilline and @SenFeinstein’s bill. 1/
If 50% of all of the guns in the United States disappeared overnight, we would still have more guns per capita than ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
We solve this by passing the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act introduced by @RepDonaldPayne. 2/
Right now, the law makes the gun industry exempt from being sued in most cases. This is outrageous.
We need to crack down on reckless gun dealers/manufacturers by passing @RepAdamSchiff’s Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act to repeal their liability shield. 3/
We also need to pass @DickDurbin and @RepBarbaraLee’s Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act to allow FBI and ATF to collect, preserve, and disclose gun records and tracing data necessary to properly investigate and prevent gun violence to make our communities safer. 4/
Over half of all partner homicides are committed with guns.
That means we’ve got to pass the No Guns for Abusers Act by @RepSwalwell, authorizing DOJ to make grants for state & local governments to remove firearms from individuals who are charged with or convicted of DV. 5/
After Buffalo and Uvalde, the House passed the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, a lifesaving 🚩law supported by >70% of Americans to temporarily remove access to firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or others by a federal court. The Senate MUST pass it. 6/
The Senate MUST pass the House-passed Bipartisan Background Checks Act & the Enhanced Background Checks Act (supported by 90% of Americans) to establish universal background checks + increase the time a federal firearms licensee must wait while a background check is conducted. 7/
In Illinois, guns trafficked across state lines comprise two-thirds of the total number of illegally possessed crime guns. Illinois is not alone in this. 8/
wqad.com/article/news/c…
To stop the flow of crime guns into IL, we must pass my Gun Trafficker Detection Act to require gun owners to report their lost/stolen gun within 48 hours, along with @RepKelly’s House-passed bill to make gun trafficking & straw purchasing stand-alone federal criminal offenses.9/
Aside from being A) necessary to save lives from the gun violence epidemic & B) supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, what these actions have in common is that they will not become law with the filibuster in place. The Senate must #EndTheFilibuster to save lives.10/
But before we #EndTheFillibuster, we can pass @RepDonBeyer’s Assault Weapon Excise Act *designed to bypass the filibuster with 50 votes* to would impose a 1000% excise tax on the manufacturer, importer or producer of assault weapons & high capacity magazines. 11/
After Uvalde, I read the names of the 665 children 11-years-old & younger killed by guns so far this year, unable to even make it through the first page. Today that number is 846.
How many lives will it take before 50 US Senators have the courage to act?
We have a mandate from the American people to pass common sense gun control laws.
The path to stop the carnage and save innocent lives is clear.
It’s time to find the courage to finally take it.
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