Shall We Ban Assault Weapons?

You Decide.

Feeling angry, sad, and helpless after the last school shooting? But we’re not helpless. If we want to get guns out of schools, we can vote them out.

This means—to be blunt—we have to vote Republicans out of office. Every office, every one, from the Presidency down to school board member. Nothing matters more to our nation, our children, our lives, than getting out the blue vote.

After every school shooting, there’s the same sense of misery, of helplessness, of anger that this could happen again. But after the shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018, the surviving students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School did more than thinking and praying. They took action. They marched, and they launched a movement called March for our Lives, that prioritizes getting out the vote for progressive politicians. (Great place to donate.) I once saw one of these kids give a talk at a rally in Albany, and his intensity, his passion and eloquence amazed me. I guess bullet holes in your school walls and dead classmates in the hallways can really focus your energies.

Mike Collins, the Republican who represents the Georgia district where the most recent school shooting happened, says “it’s not the right time to talk about” gun control, and that the solution is: “We’ve got to get back to God in this country.” One of his campaign ads featured him firing a semi-automatic rifle.

To be clear, I respect and admire many Republicans. John McCain is one of my heroes. Liz Cheney is a true patriot. Most Republicans are, of course, decent folks, “citizen[s] that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues,” to quote John McCain when he famously defended Obama.

But as Democrats have found, the secret to power in Congress is unity, and Republicans have voted almost in lockstep against any sane gun restrictions. Republicans inevitably blame mental health and not guns each time there’s a mass shooting—yet 205 of them voted AGAINST a bill to expand school-based mental health services.

So, enough handwringing—what can we do? I’m continually impressed with the work being done by Activate America, who coordinates phonebanks, textbanks and postcard campaigns to winnable districts and swing states. Instead of broadcasting generic messages about the importance of voting, they target specific issues and specific likely voters. Right now it’s all about winning the Senate race in Montana—a must-win! And the flippable districts in NY and CA that we need to hold the House. Activate America will send you a script and a list of addresses—postcards and stamps are up to you.

By the way, I thought I’d mention that Marjory Stoneman Douglas, for whom the high school in Parkland, Florida was named, was a ferocious activist who fought to preserve the Everglades. She would have agreed wholeheartedly with the fact that we need to vote out every lawmaker who is dithering on gun laws.

Americans, by wide margins, favor an assault weapons ban. Background checks, safe storage laws, red flag laws. The only way to get them is to get out the vote, up and down the ballot.

Dear Friends,

Are you losing sleep over the election of 2024 and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every week I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we could really make a difference.

                “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

                                      --Noam Chomsky