Date: 2024-07-17 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00016286
US Politics
Gun Violence
Senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) ... 30 years of 'F' ratings from the NRA
Peter Burgess
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Date: 2024-07-17 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00016286 | |||||||||
US Politics | |||||||||
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Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
| 30 years of 'F' ratings from the NRA Richard Blumenthal info@richardblumenthal.com via bounces.salsalabs.net 8:26 AM (2 minutes ago) to me Blumenthal for Connecticut Peter, I’ve been getting “F” ratings from the NRA for the past 30 years. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been this hopeful that we could actually defeat its perfidious influence in our country. When I heard the news, a year ago today, that 17 people had been killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., it landed like a punch in the gut. I know that feeling all too well – I felt it six years ago, when first-graders in my home state of Connecticut were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I felt it after Isla Vista, San Bernardino, Orlando, and Las Vegas. And I feel it every time I hear about the 36,383 Americans who are killed every year by guns, most of whose deaths never make the news. In the wake of the Parkland shooting, a new light of hope emerged: The courage and resolve of the survivors, who, in the midst of unimaginable tragedy, stood up to demand change. The strength of these brave students inspired young people across the country to take action – and, to be blunt, it gave the rest of us a much-needed kick in the pants. I’ve never felt nearer to commonsense gun reform than I did at last year’s March for Our Lives. And the change is coming: Just eight days ago, Congress held its first hearing on gun violence in eight years, attended by Parkland survivors. We are, finally, making progress. Our convictions are moving the conscience of America – and I plan to keep raising my voice every day until we’ve won. Please, keep speaking out to end this epidemic. Keep calling Congress, keep voting, keep demanding change. Your activism, your insistence that we can and must do better, is what will finally bring about the commonsense reform we so urgently need. Thank you, Dick | |||||||||