Thread by @NoRA4USA

One of the bills sitting untouched in the Senate because the gun lobby objects to it is the Violence Against Women Renewal Act of 2019.

It's important to understand what #VAWA does to see just how much the @NRA has corrupted @senatemajldr. Thread (1/7)

#VAWA expired in 2018 after the @GOP leadership in both the House and the Senate refused to take it up. Originally enacted in the 1990s, studies showed that "the rate of intimate partner violence against females declined 53% between 1993 and 2008" (2/7)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

#VAWA required reauthorization every 5 years. For more than two decades, this was accomplished, with improvements made along the way.

Until 2018, when two common-sense changes to the bill sent the gun lobby into a tizzy and the @GOP refused to reenact it. (3/7)

First, the #VAWA renewal bill closed the "boyfriend loophole." Effectively, this extended firearm restrictions to dating partners who are not married or current living together but are convicted of stalking or abuse. (4/7)

Not to the @GOP.

refinery29.com/en-us/2019/04/…

The other provision made those convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault prohibited possessors. Currently, felony domestic abuse convictions make it illegal to own guns.

But many commit felony-level violence and accept plea bargains for reduced charges. #VAWA fixes this. (5/7)

THESE are the measures the gun lobby objects to. They are protecting CONVICTED stalkers and domestic abusers. They are blocking the passage of #VAWA which we KNOW reduced domestic violence by MORE THAN HALF.

That's who #MassacreMitch and the @NRA are protecting. (6/7)

So here's what you can do:

1. Call your senator, of either party: [phone] DEMAND that they pass #VAWA

2. Write letters to the editor of your local news outlets. Call the Senate out publicly.

3. Register to vote. Register others to vote. And vote like it matters. (7/7)