“Trump understands politics as the interplay of power and ideology. His opponents see politics as procedure … never has the Democrats’ technocratic, legalistic approach been more detrimental to the cause of democracy.” nytimes.com/2025/02/15/opi… “It’s not Trump who doesn’t have ideas; it’s the people who should be fighting to stop Trump’s autocratic breakthrough.”

Democrats in Congress: WHAT IS THE PLAN?

Going on Sunday shows and spewing consultant speak isn't going to cut it.

Twelve inspectors general fired and there's no sit-in? No filibuster? No direction to voters? And in fact, some of you are actually voting for Trump's agenda? I have been a loyal "normie Dem" my whole life, but to watch them make millions off of stock trades, cozy up to people they admitted were fascists, trade obligation for access, and play internal politics while democracy is destroyed is a disappointment I don't have words for.

Even though someone tried to assassinate Donald Trump two months ago, a man with an AK-47 rifle, ammunition, a scope, a GoPro camera and two backpacks was able to get within 400 yards of Trump’s golf club. Why? Because of Republican laws that allow “guns everywhere.”

https://twitter.com/ap/status/1835429547639964020

No one is safe in America—not even a Presidential candidate guarded by Secret Service—because gun extremism has given everyone easy access to arsenals, no questions asked. Thanks to open carry and permitless carry, would be assassins are law abiding citizens until they open fire.

NEW: Colorado lawmakers like @RepMegFroe are asking Supreme Court Justice Monica Márquez to address the family court system “crisis” that led to Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins being jailed for refusing “reunification therapy” between her sons and the ex charged with raping their daughter

https://twitter.com/repmegfroe/status/1831013574791307723

Pickrel-Hawkins has generated intense national interest, attracting more than 5 million views on Twitter, and donors contributed $70,000 to defray her legal costs: “I cannot thank you enough for standing with me to fight for the children.”
facebook.com/61550070298795…

Fellow white women: I've spent the last decade organizing you and I know firsthand the impact you can have when you use your economic and political power for good. This MUST be the election when a majority of us help elect the first woman, a Black woman, President. That means... Do the work: It's not enough to just send a donation; host a fundraiser. It's not enough just to vote; join door knocking and phonebanking events every week. It's not enough to support the VP silently; push back on every person who tells you a Black woman can't get elected.

“When we went through her things we found 19 loaded handguns stashed all over her house—under her bed, in her closet, in the silverware drawer… That's the American spirit.” This irresponsible, dangerous rhetoric will encourage gun extremist to treat firearms like toys and leave unsecured, loaded guns accessible to children. Gun violence is the number one killer of American children, including unintentional shootings with unsecured guns.

Dedicating my feed tonight to @KyleClark, Colorado journalist and brilliant, fearless moderator. All of these clips from the recent GOO debate for a Colorado Congressional seat are 💯

Hearing even Democrats repeat the bullshit talking points about VP Kamala Harris - they don’t think she’s qualified or they say she can’t win in the future. But when you press them for proof or examples to back up their fears, it’s clear they’re just regurgitating others’ TPs. Conversation I had with unnamed family member:

Me: Why don’t you support VP Harris?

Them: She hasn’t accomplished anything.

Me: What other VP accomplishments would you cite as consequential?

Them: Hmmmm.

ELEVEN YEARS AGO today, at my Indiana kitchen counter, I created a Facebook page that became @MomsDemand. I never imagined it would become the largest women-led organization in the US and, with @StudentsDemand and 10M supporters, twice the size of the NRA momsdemandaction.org In 2012, gun safety was the third rail of American politics. A quarter of all Dems in Congress had NRA A-ratings. The NRA wielded outsized influence and could generate angry calls and emails to lawmakers. And there was no national gun safety grassroots movement to stop them.

Defamation is not free speech, which is why judges in different state have come to the same conclusion: Alex Jones violated his victims’ First Amendment rights and he owes them $1.5 billion. On the day of the Sandy Hook shooting - which happened 11 years ago this week - Alex Jones went on the air while parents were learning that their children had died, claiming the mass shooting was a “false flag” intended to take away viewers’ Second Amendment rights.

NEW: The 20-year-old man who attempted to carry out a mass shooting inside an Ohio Walmart was a white supremacist and gun extremist who’d been admitted to the hospital for mental-health evaluations. He bought his long gun two days prior at a gun store: newsweek.com/benjamin-charl…
Ohio does not:

Require background checks

Have a red flag law

Prevent domestic abusers from accessing guns

Ban assault weapons

Limit magazine capacity

Have waiting periods

Require permitting

Regulate open carry

The Lewiston gunman used a Ruger SFAR, an AR-10 that fires a .308 caliber cartridge, even more powerful than the AR-15. Photos suggest his rifle was equipped with tactical gear, including an optic or red-dot sight, a flashlight, and 20-round magazines. cnn.com/us/live-news/l… The magazines were taped together for faster reloading, a tactic referred to as “jungle style.” By taping two magazines together, the shooter was able to bolster his capacity to 40 rounds.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein was a trailblazer - the first female president of the San Fransisco Board of Supervisors, the first female mayor of San Fransisco, first woman U.S. senator from California. And one of the first among her colleagues to support gun safety - including Dems. Sen. Feinstein fought for stronger gun laws after Harvey Milk, her friend and fellow San Francisco city supervisor, bled to death in her arms from an assassin’s bullet in 1978. Among her successes: the 1994 assault weapons ban signed into law by President Clinton.

It's back-to-school time. Given the amount of gunfire on school grounds last year, gun violence is top of mind for many students. People often ask me about how to talk their kids about their fears while also helping them stay and feel safe.

Some tips based on experts' advice... First, it's important to consider the age and maturity of your child. Children are uniquely vulnerable to trauma. There are different stages of childhood development and children’s understanding of complex issues and the world around them is different from stage to stage.

WTF: The @nytimes writes an entire article about how fear drove tens of millions of irrational and deadly gun sales in America during COVID, but never points out the chaos campaign by the NRA and its allies to stoke fear and juice gun sales. 🧵 nytimes.com/2023/06/23/hea… First NRA reference in article: “Gun ownership is not just a constitutional right but a necessary form of protection, according to organizations like the NRA and NSSF.” There’s no data showing guns are a necessary form of protection; there is data showing guns make us less safe.

THEY DID IT!! Texas @MomsDemand volunteers and survivors, including Uvalde and Santa Fe families, have been advocating for the Raise the Age bill for weeks and finally - on the last day for this vote - it passed out cold committee.

Watch until the end.

Text TEXAS to 644-33 We SHOWED UP in Austin and demanded Texas do-nothing lawmakers do SOMETHING. They called an emergency meeting and PASSED a raise the age out of committee. Our work is not done, but there were tears from survivors - including Uvalde families - for this unprecedented vote.

NEW: Police say the gunman who opened fire on an outlet mall in Texas had a patch on his chest that said “RWDS,” an acronym that stands for Right Wing Death Squad, and he may have been motivated by white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs. washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05… In addition, law enforcement officials say the gunman interacted with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/m…

Texans own among the most guns per capita of any state. If more guns and fewer laws made Texas safer, it would be the safest state with declining rates of gun violence, but it has high rates of gun suicide and homicide, and is home to four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings. Yet Texas lawmakers continue to undermine guns safety laws. During the last five years, Texas lawmakers reduced required training, allowed the open carry of handguns, forced guns on college campuses, reduced penalties for violating NO GUNS signs, passed permitless carry.

Colorado used to be an @NRA stronghold. Today, it's @MomsDemand country. How did we get here? The unglamorous, heavy lifting of grassroots activism.

A thread... #coleg

https://twitter.com/FerrellZabala/status/1651994849258635264

Let's go back to 2013. After then-Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper passed sweeping gun safety laws in the wake of the Aurora mass shooting tragedy, the NRA worked to recall two state lawmakers to send a signal to other lawmakers - everywhere - considering something similar.

BIG NEWS!!! I’m so excited that as I prepare step back from leadership role at @MomsDemand, my friend and colleague @FerrellZabala is stepping into a new role as the organization's first-ever Executive Director. essence.com/news/gun-viole… For the past four years, @FerrellZabala has led our organization's movement building work and strengthened our partnerships, grown our grassroots power, and uplifted the voices of gun violence survivors.

THEY DID IT!!! @GovInslee just signed a historic package of gun safety bills into law banning assault weapons, holding the gun industry accountable, requiring waiting periods and promoting secure storage — surrounded by the Washington @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand volunteers 💪 As Washington. State Sen. Jamie Pedersen said at the signing: "I see the sea of red with @MomsDemand shirts, the grassroots support who that have had our back to get these bills done.”