FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, 06 February 2013
CONTACT:
Brett Abrams : 516-841-1105 : brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com
In an email to members today, Courage Campaign called on President Obama to include a call for an assault weapons ban in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 12th.
Email below:
Dear Eddie,
President Obama: Call for passage of the assault weapons ban in your State of the Union address.
“From time to time” our Constitution requires that the president shall address Congress, assess the “State of the Union and recommend…such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” That time is less than a week away.
Does the president think that removing weapons of war from our streets is “necessary and expedient?” If so, he should say it loud and clear. Already certain weak-kneed Democrats in Washington are backing away from the assault weapons ban and suggesting that it can’t be done. This is ludicrous. 71% of gun owners favor a ban on assault weapons, including 60% of NRA members.¹
Since Australia passed an assault weapons ban in 1996, there hasn’t been a single mass shooting.² And despite right-wing talking points, the original 1994 assault weapons ban helped reduce crime and mass shootings here in the U.S.³ The new bill eliminates many of the previous loopholes and will not expire, two issues that inhibited the original ban.
As Sen. Feinstein wrote to Courage members after the Sandy Hook shooting: “We need a mass movement that can make calls, write letters, and mobilize your fellow citizens if we’re going to win this battle.” President Obama needs to hear from you to know that he can’t back down. He has to stand strong for the 33 Americans murdered by guns each day.
Tell President Obama you have his back on the assault weapons ban.
Eddie, in the past six weeks YOUR actions — in concert with tens of thousands of other Courage Campaign members — have had a major impact on the gun debate. We’ve focused national media attention on Wal-Mart’s continued sale of assault weapons, forced the NRA to admit its new shooting app was not appropriate for young children, and demonstrated unprecedented support for Sen. Feinstein’s new assault weapons ban.
You can’t back down either. Take the next step.
Yours in the fight to end gun violence,
Rick Jacobs, Chair and Founder
Courage Campaign
1. http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/-/DougSchoenGunPoll_January2013.pdf
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/opinion/australia-banned-assault-weapons-america-can-too.html
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/17/everything-you-need-to-know-about-banning-assault-weapons-in-one-post/
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