school shootings – Elect Sally Harrell

It has happened again. I heard audio clips of the shots being fired — they were fast, they were constant, and they kept going. I’m even more outraged. This should not be possible.

So, I’m marching. Will you join me? Moms Demand Action, Wednesday, February 21, 2018, Georgia State Capitol, 10am – 1pm. Wear red. Let’s fill the Capitol. Page your legislators from the floor. Make them dedicate a day of work to listening to us. Our kids need to see adults in charge speak up for them.

Parents across the country are scared to send their children to school. Our kids and teachers now use precious learning time to practice “run, hide, fight” in active shooter drills.

And why have our politicians done nothing to stop this? Because they say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” That’s true, but the murderers who have committed mass shootings didn’t use pistols, they used semi-automatic weapons typically reserved as weapons of war.

Our politicians say if we “outlaw guns, only outlaws will have them.” Well, so far as I have heard, most the guns used for mass shootings have been legally acquired.

And finally, NRA spokespeople will say that gun control isn’t the answer because what if one day, a “well-regulated militia” is all that stands between us and government-backed terror?

Well, for the thousands of survivors and the thousands more family members who have lost loved ones to mass shootings these last few years, I would argue that they are already living in terror, horror, and grief.

I pray that we won’t see a crime like Las Vegas, or Sandy Hook, or Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School here in Georgia. But prayers for victims are too late. We need action NOW from our representatives.

We need politicians to pass legislation for common sense gun control.

If they won’t act, we will vote them out. And until Election Day, we can keep them busy listening to us instead of the NRA.

—Sally

This has been a hard week. It seems too much to bear to hear the news of another mass shooting. Many people I’ve spoken with are overwhelmed and discouraged. It’s tempting to crawl into a hole and tune it all out. But we can’t stop trying to make a safer future.

So much is still unfolding about the tragedy in Las Vegas, and it’s unsettling to not be able to answer the question, “What makes a mind want to kill?” We may never be able to answer that question.

Many political experts said that if we couldn’t get common sense gun legislation after Sandy Hook, that we’d never get it. I don’t believe that’s true.

Because when Sandy Hook happened, we did not have the organized activism that we have today. We did not have the resistance. Now we do. And that’s why we can’t give up working to prevent another Las Vegas or Sandy Hook.

We don’t need elected officials who pass legislation making it easier for people to kill. We need politicians who have a vision for an America where ordinary citizens can live safe, healthy and fulfilled lives. We need living wages, health care and mental health care for all. We need criminal justice reform. We need a fully funded public education system. We need a government that respects the dignity of every single person.

We can achieve these goals if we keeping picking ourselves back up when we feel loss. Use your voice to overwhelm your representatives – make it hard for them to ignore our voices and our values. We can survive bad policy decisions – and overturn them, if we don’t give up.

2018 is not far away. Democratic candidates are stepping up all over the state. We will not give up, and we need your support — whatever you can give. If you can walk, we need you to knock on doors. If you can talk, we need you to make phone calls. If you have some extra dollars, we need your donations.

Don’t give up on what we can achieve. Together, we are the hope. Together, we CAN shape our future, even during our darkest hours.

—Sally

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Moms Demand Action Against Mass Shootings

We Can’t Give Up Trying to Stop Mass Shootings