Below is the short letter I just sent my Congresswoman asking her to support a ban on assault weapons like the AR-15s used in the Sandy Hook shootings and most recently last night the shootings at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Given that she has in the past received a 93% rating from the NRA, I will for this and many other reasons also be voting against her in both our upcoming top two primary and in the general election. I encourage you to do the same for your representative.
Rep. Herrera-Beutler,
I am writing to ask for your support of H.R. 4269 Assault Weapons Ban of 2015 or similar legislation in order to stop the sale of assault weapons, such as the widely sold AR-15 family of guns, in the United States.
There is only one purpose to such military weapons: to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible. I saw that in the news this morning as I read about the mass shooting in Orlando, and I thought back to the school shooting at Sandy Hook, both tolls enabled by the excessive death-dealing capabilities of the AR-15.
I do not believe any private citizen needs such a weapon, nor do I believe that any reasonable interpretation of the Second Amendment grants an unrestricted right to buy or own such a weapon.
Please let us do this one thing to help stop America’s exceptional gun violence.
Thank you,
Nicolas Ward
This latest attack has many components, not the least of which is a widespread fear and hatred of LGBT people, Latinxs, and Muslims, perpetuated by many American politicians, mostly Republican, for electoral gain. This one issue is not nearly enough to undo our collective action or inaction over the decades, but it does feel like one pressure point we can push back on again and again.
