In light of the most recent school shooting at Umpqua I think we all need to take a minute to stand up and do something about our mass gun violence epidemic. Since the beginning of 2015, there have been 296 mass shootings nationwide. That's an average of over 1 shooting a day. As a fellow community college student myself, I often worry my university could be next. Congress may be paralyzed thanks to the stranglehold the NRA has placed on it, but that doesn't mean we should sit back and remain silent while our children and loved ones get picked off in a crowd by some deranged lunatic with a gun. See below the fold for who, what, and where to write.
First, head on over to the US House website and punch in your zip code. This will give you direct access to contact information for your representative. Hit the little mail icon and fill out the form. If you're stuck on what to write, you could follow something along the lines of this:
Dear (congressman/congresswoman),
In 2015 alone there have been 296 mass shootings nationwide. As a (student, teacher, other profession etc.) I don't want to worry that some loose cannon is going to be able to easily obtain a gun and kill me or my loved ones in a rampage. I urge you to support stronger, more comprehensive background checks and other common sense gun control measures (registration etc., fill in whatever you think might help) to prevent these tragedies from occurring. This is a nationwide epidemic and requires a nationwide, Federal level effort.
If you'd rather call or fax (do people still use those?), there should be information on there for that as well.
Of course, feel free to customize your message. The most important thing is that the message gets sent at all. Let's make our voice heard.
Yours truly,
Red State Progressive.