• Press Release

For 10th Anniversary of Sandy Hook Shooting, March For Our Lives and Recent Gun Violence Survivors Deliver DNA Kits to Senate Offices, Pressuring a Vote on the Assault Weapons Ban

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WASHINGTON, D.C. —  As gun violence continues to surge in our nation, survivors of mass shootings have joined the Time is Now coalition to urge Senate Majority Leader Schumer to prioritize holding a vote on the House-passed assault weapons ban before the session closes at the end of the year. The group delivered DNA kits, used to identify children in case of an emergency, to U.S. Senators as a reminder of the deadly reality their constituents are forced to accept. March For Our Lives youth activists joined organizers on Capitol Hill to deliver the kits and demand urgent action from the Senate to defend our right to live free of gun violence.

Participating survivors include:

  • Gloria Cazares: lost her daughter Jackie in Uvalde, TX

  • Sandy Phillips: lost her daughter Jessie in Aurora, CO

  • Manuel Oliver: lost his son Joaquin in Parkland, FL

“Young people turned out to vote in record numbers in this last midterm cycle, and after delivering Democrats the margin of victory in several key races that determined control of the Senate, Democrats owe young people and survivors a vote on the Assault Weapons Ban,” said Zeenat Yahya, Director of Policy at March For Our Lives. “Both our polling and the many wins from candidates running on strong gun violence prevention platforms prove that this is a winning issue, not a liability.  Gun safety was a top issue that motivated young voters to turn out, and voters will reward Senate candidates in 2024 who show that they care about gun safety including by taking a bold and popular stand on assault weapons.”

Advocates are under no illusions about the chances of the bill passing in a divided Senate, but the American public deserves to know which leaders truly represent the will of the people and who is playing politics with our lives. After all, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 took eight votes before it passed into law. In 2022, public opinion is on our side after a midterm election that reaffirmed gun violence prevention is a winning issue, and the political temperature is rising—the time is now to vote on an assault weapons ban.

Since the Senate went on recess on Nov. 18, the U.S. has experienced a series of mass shootings around the Thanksgiving holiday and more than 1,026 gun incidents, including 459 deaths and 837 injuries. Guns are the leading cause of death for young people in America for the second year in a row. Our nation is in crisis, and the Senate must act immediately to save our lives.    

   

The Time Is Now Coalition includes Brady, Community Justice Action Fund, Guns Down America, March for Our Lives, and Newtown Action Alliance.

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