OK, friends, I’m making a serious ask here. Three years ago, after the shootings at the elementary school in Newtown, CT, activists engaged a roster of familiar faces from the world of entertainment to make a public service announcement that went viral on YouTube urging citizens to contact their elected officials to “Demand a Plan to End Gun Violence.” You probably watched this video, agreed with it, thought “Good idea”…and, like me, put it on a list of Things to Do that you’ve never gotten around to.
Since then, mass murders by gun-wielding maniacs have accelerated at a horrifying pace. I’m urging you to take time this week and write to both of your senators and to your representative in Congress DEMANDING A PLAN to end gun violence.
I’ve done this today — sent letters by both email and postal mail. Here’s the text of my letter.
“ I am a constituent of yours residing in midtown Manhattan. I admire and respect you tremendously and consider you to be one of the most visionary and enlightened legislators in our country at a time when clear and progressive vision and genuine enlightenment are in short supply. I am writing you today because I am outraged and heartsick at the epidemic of senseless shooting rampages that we are witnessing day in and day out. I demand a plan to do something to bring these attacks to an end. No other country in the world has such an accelerating history of citizens getting mowed down in public by deranged individuals toting weapons that should never be sold in stores in the first place. I know it’s asking too much to ban all private weapons entirely, but something MUST be done NOW to stem the tide. Automatic weapons should absolutely not be available to any nutjob with a driver’s license. New York State actually has some of the most sane gun legislation in the country. I call on you to exercise leadership to write, endorse, pass, and enforce legislation to curb the abuse of deadly weapons without delay. What do you plan to do, Senator, to end gun violence?”
Feel free to copy and paste. If you don’t live in Manhattan, you may need to adapt the text to reflect your feelings about your representatives. To find out how to contact your senators, go here. To find out how to contact your representative in Congress, go here.
People have the power. Let’s do this.
another eye opens 
June 13, 2016 at 7:24 am
Reading this for the first time the day after the massacre in Orlando. Sigh.