We face an amorphous multi-faced monster, tendrils coiling in laughter feeding off our feeble cries. Fed off the constant questioning, the same demands from despondent mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, swim team coaches, track competitors, and international allies alike of “When will gun violence end?” Sandy Hook wasn’t enough. Parkland wasn’t enough. The 26th other school shootings as of May 26th, 2022 haven’t been enough to prevent Robb Elementary coming in at number 27.
The monster cracks its tendrils in glee as politicians have balked at passing H.R.8 - The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021. Back on the table as of May 25th, this bill “prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.” Delighting in collective American misery, the beast takes turns trying on Mitch McConnel’s face insisting that the problem remains up to schools needing to amp up their security protocols before nestling behind Ted Cruz’s skin ridiculing Beto O’Rourke for making gun violence a political issue.
Children’s lives should not be politicized, but it's their blood that keeps the lobbyist’s wheels churning.
Last year, the NRA spent $3.31 million in lobbying. If the average School Based Mental Health Therapist makes approximately $51,064.50 yearly, then one year of lobbying could pay for the salaries of just about 64 mental health professionals in our schools.
The Uvalde, Texas shooter wasn’t a random stranger with a vendetta; he was an 18 year old in high school.
Despondent over not graduating with his class, socially isolated and retracting from life, he took up the mantle of America’s Next Top Massacre and performed the unspeakable. Hinting to a girl across the seas about his big reveal and DM’ing former classmates about his gun haul, he had the tell-tale signs of murderous intent seen in aforemented tragedies. This was not a person in imminent danger, this was a mind spiraling down a dark path ignoring exit signs to another road of liberation. Braggadocious, had the right person been listening these would have been ample opportunities to stop violence before inception. Had this killer existed in another culture where schools prioritized mental health counselors over police protection, or the space between gun and hand was prevented by background checks, or guns weren’t sold to civilians in the first place this tragedy could have been avoided.
It wasn’t, and we need to live with the consequences. What are you going to do about it?
Senator Phone Numbers
Richard Shelby (R-AL)(202) 224-5744
Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)(202) 224-4124
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)(202) 224-6665
Dan Sullivan (R-AK)(202) 224-3004
Mark Kelly (D-AZ)202-224-2235
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)(202) 224-4521
John Boozman (R-AR)(202) 224-4843
Tom Cotton (R-AR)(202) 224-2353
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)(202) 224-3841
Alex Padilla (D-CA)(202) 224-3553
Michael Bennet (D-CO)(202) 224-5852
John Hickenlooper (D-CO)(202) 224-5941
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)(202) 224-2823
Chris Murphy (D-CT)(202) 224-4041
Tom Carper (D-DE)(202) 224-2441
Chris Coons (D-DE)(202) 224-5042
Marco Rubio (R-FL)(202) 224-3041
Rick Scott (R-FL)(202) 224-5274
Jon Ossoff (D-GA)(202) 224-3521
Raphael Warnock (D-GA)(202) 224-3643
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)(202) 224-6361
Brian Schatz (D-HI)(202) 224-3934
Mike Crapo (R-ID)(202) 224-6142
Jim Risch (R-ID)(202) 224-2752
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)(202) 224-2854
Dick Durbin (D-IL)(202) 224-2152
Mike Braun (R-IN)(202) 224-4814
Todd Young (R-IN)(202) 224-5623
Joni Ernst (R-IA)(202) 224-3254
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)(202) 224-3744
Roger Marshall (R-KS)(202) 224-4774
Jerry Moran (R-KS)(202) 224-6521
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)(202) 224-2541
Rand Paul (R-KY)(202) 224-4343
Bill Cassidy (R-LA)(202) 224-5824
John Kennedy (R-LA)(202) 224-4623
Susan Collins (R-ME)(202) 224-2523
Angus King (I-ME)(202) 224-5344
Ben Cardin (D-MD)(202) 224-4524
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)(202) 224-4654
Ed Markey (D-MA)(202) 224-2742
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)(202) 224-4543
Gary Peters (D-MI)(202) 224-6221
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)(202) 224-4822
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)(202) 224-3244
Tina Smith (D-MN)(202) 224-5641
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)(202) 224-5054
Roger Wicker (R-MS)(202) 224-6253
Roy Blunt (R-MO)(202) 224-5721
Josh Hawley (R-MO)(202) 224-6154
Steve Daines (R-MT)(202) 224-2651
Jon Tester (D-MT)(202) 224-2644
Deb Fischer (R-NE)(202) 224-6551
Ben Sasse (R-NE)(202) 224-4224
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)(202) 224-3542
Jacky Rosen (D-NV)(202) 224-6244
Maggie Hassan (D-NH)(202) 224-3324
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)(202) 224-2841
Cory Booker (D-NJ)(202) 224-3224
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)(202) 224-4744
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)(202) 224-5521
Ben Luján (D-NM)(202) 224-6621
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)(202) 224-4451
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)(202) 224-6542
Richard Burr (R-NC)(202) 224-3154
Thom Tillis (R-NC)(202) 224-6342
Kevin Cramer (R-ND)(202) 224-2043
John Hoeven (R-ND)(202) 224-2551
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)(202) 224-2315
Rob Portman (R-OH)(202) 224-3353
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)(202) 224-4721
James Lankford (R-OK)(202) 224-5754
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)(202) 224-3753
Ron Wyden (D-OR)(202) 224-5244
Bob Casey (D-PA)(202) 224-6324
Pat Toomey (R-PA)(202) 224-4254
Jack Reed (D-RI)(202) 224-4642
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)(202) 224-2921
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)(202) 224-5972
Tim Scott (R-SC)(202) 224-6121
Mike Rounds (R-SD)(202) 224-5842
John Thune (R-SD)(202) 224-2321
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)(202) 224-3344
Bill Hagerty (R-TN)(202) 224-4944
John Cornyn (R-TX)(202) 224-2934
Ted Cruz (R-TX)(202) 224-5922
Mike Lee (R-UT)(202) 224-5444
Mitt Romney (R-UT)(202) 224-5251
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)(202) 224-4242
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)(202) 224-5141
Tim Kaine (D-VA)(202) 224-4024
Mark Warner (D-VA)(202) 224-2023
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)(202) 224-3441
Patty Murray (D-WA)(202) 224-2621
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)(202) 224-6472
Joe Manchin (D-WV)(202) 224-3954
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)(202) 224-5653
Ron Johnson (R-WI)(202) 224-5323
John Barrasso (R-WY)(202) 224-6441
Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)(202) 224-3424
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