At the State of the Union, the President made an emotional appeal for improved gun safety -- an appeal echoed by the thousands of Americans whose families and communities are ripped apart by gun violence every year.
Americans like John Woods. John was a student at Virginia Tech when a shooter massacred 32 people, including John's girlfriend, Maxine. His message is heartbreaking and powerful -- and we're going to make sure it's heard in Washington.
Washington's lawmakers and power-brokers pay close attention to the Sunday news programs -- and they'll notice when we run our ad on Sunday's This Week. But we need to raise $25,000 by Friday to get our ad on the air for this Sunday's show.
This is going to be a tough fight. The gun lobby is already mobilized to crush even the most common-sense reforms, like universal background checks. They've had plenty of practice, and have the Hill connections and money to do it again.
Yesterday, Wayne LaPierre’s “Stand and Fight” op-ed was featured on Daily Caller. The NRA’s CEO made a series of strange remarks and dark ideas about the world we live in. He warned Americans against violent Latin American drug gangs—suggesting that dangerous illegal’s were crossing the border “whose jobs are murder, rape, robbery, and kidnapping.” Furthermore, he wrote the US-Mexican border was such a threat it is “remains open to agents of al Qaeda.”
He also wrote: “After Hurricane Sandy, we saw the hellish world that the gun prohibitionist see as their utopia. Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn. There was no water or electricity.”
Apparently, LaPierre hasn’t seen I Am Legend, or maybe he has? Because as devastating as Sandy was, that is not what I saw, nor what I heard from friends and family living in the area. What I did see was the communities of NYC and NJ working togeter, like everyday people, to make it through—there were certainly challenges of course but nothing of the post-apocalyptic--Walking Dead like world as LaPierre says.
In fact, what LaPierre seems to be suggest is that the collapse of civilization is right around the corner and somehow if you want gun safety, you therefore want civilization to collapse… He says the NRA is not paranoid--however, he notes thanks to President Obama there will be no “…police protection. And the American people know it.” With 92% of Americans in favor of President Obama's proposed background checks, I'm afraid it is LaPierre that might be the one bit of touch...
The NRA exec. ends this crazed rant with this: “We are the largest civil rights organization in the world.” Honestly, one can’t even make a serious attempt at responding to such an outrageous claim. Clearly, the NRA is incredibly out of touch with reality. The majority of Americans—regardless of party affiliation would find these ideas offensive and fantastically ridiculous.
At DFA we continues to support responsible gun ownership and steps to make laws that will decrease the country’s gun violence. To echo Obama’s SOTU address Tuesday, the families who lost loved ones to gun violence deserve a vote. We support the President and anti-gun violence leaders as they move forward to get this done. We must act now. It is time for gun safety reform.
Last night we all watched as President Obama stood up for the victims of gun violence. re-WATCH this historic State of the Union moment here:
The President's leadership is unlike any we've seen from the nation's commander in chief before. In a room with over 100 relatives of gun violence, the moment was especially powerful for its impact on the audience. It is one that will surely be remembered in the years to come. As for the green ribbons, they were worn in honor of the victims of the Newton, Conn. elementary school shooting. We must strive to capture this moment and end gun violence once and for all.
Don't let more American's lives be torn apart. Watch John's story here:
Marco Rubio's response to the President's State of the Union buried the headline: Republicans want to make devastating cuts to Social Security benefits. Maybe you missed it because Rubio awkwardly took a sip of water and then tried to sell those cuts to the American people as a plan to reduce the deficit and "save" Social Security.
The Republican plan to "save" Social Security? It's just another scheme to push down working families and prop up subsidies for big corporations.
That's why we're joining Rep. Alan Grayson and our friends at the PCCC in telling Democrats to take any and all benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid off the table and pass a jobs bill that will put Americans back to work.
Republicans can't cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid on their own -- they'll try to use the next budget showdown to force Democrats to join them in passing these cuts.
We can't let that happen. We need to get Democrats on the record right now -- we need them to pledge to vote no on any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. We get enough Democrats to do that, and we win.
Gov. Chris Christie is a self described,“husband and proud father of four. Working to bring real reform to the Garden State.” Interesting, tell me how marriage equality doesn’t make this man’s agenda?
What you need to know:
NJ Senate passed a bill for Marriage Equality.
NJ Gov. Chris Christie not only vetoed it, he buried it, and denied thousands of New Jersey families equality.
