Gun Sanity

My Manifesto

I don’t want to hear of another deadly shooting of an innocent man, woman, or child. I don’t want to read of another school shooting. Or mall shooting. Or office rampage. I don’t want to feel helpless and fearful. I want to do something. I will do something. I will do something every day.

This Is My First Step

There are great resources on the Internet and many excellent organizations working to end gun violence. To make it easier to find all those resources, so that I can do something every day, I created this page. It’s my one-stop clearinghouse of actions, information, and tools to move us toward a safe, sane policy regarding guns and to help eliminate gun violence.

Take Action Today

Do one of these things right now. Do another one tomorrow. Keep speaking up and reaching out until the work is done. And it’s a long way from done.

• Write your manifesto. More and more mass murderers are leaving behind manifestos, in a pathetic effort to imbue their senseless actions with meaning. Let’s drown them out. Let’s flood social media and other communication channels with positive manifestos, manifestos that champion rationality, embrace life, fight stupidity. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. Make it real. Post it on Facebook. Hang it on your mirror. Email it to everyone you know.
• Donate to the Brady Campaign. And donate to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. And donate to Everytown for Gun Safety. And donate to Gabby Giffords’ Americans for Responsible Solutions. Donations to these organizations are not tax deductible because the organizations do actual hardcore lobbying. That’s what the NRA does. That’s what we need more of.
• Get the Brady Campaign’s Finish the Job toolkit.
• Work your way through the Brady Campaign’s action checklist.
• Look up the names of your congressional representative then call him or her at 888-920-8078. See the call script under Tools below if you’re nervous or unsure of what to say. Don’t let that stop you from calling. Your voice needs to be heard.
• Call your senator (no lookup necessary at this link).
• Write a letter to your congressperson.
• Parents of school-aged children: Ask “Is there an unlocked gun in your house?” before sending your child to another family’s home to play.

Information

This list of links will feature authoritative data to counter the campaign of misinformation perpetrated by the NRA and irrational gun nuts. No, I’m not talking about the hunter or the target shooter. I’m talking about the gun nuts. If you’re a safe, sane gun owner who doesn’t need to own military-style assault rifles and high capacity magazines, who keeps his or her guns unloaded and locked up when not in use, who doesn’t need to carry his or her weapon into the supermarket or fast food establishment, who doesn’t believe that the only solution to gun violence is to arm everyone, then you’re with us.

9 in 10 Americans support expanding background checks to include online sales and gun show sales. This includes over 80% of gun owners and 74% of NRA members.

• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
• Everytown for Gun Safety
• Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
• Americans for Responsible Solutions
• White House Plan to Reduce Gun Violence
• Constantly (and heartbreakingly) updated list of school shootings since Newtown
• How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment

Tools

• Download a script for calling your congressional representative. (PDF)