Rep. Rob Wittman (R, #VA01) has commended the NRA for the Eddie Eagles program, a gun safety program for young children that teaches them what they should do if they come upon a gun: Stop! Don’t Touch! Run Away! Tell a Grown-Up!
Herb Jones: husband, father, grandfather. Full-bird Colonel (ret.) who followed the military with a career in finance, won election three times to County Treasurer, and now owns a small business. Please give what you can to keep Congress blue and help Herb fight the good fight there.
Wittman (my far-right Congressman since redistricting) is being challenged by the totally wonderful and highly-qualified solid Democrat Herb Jones (heartfelt gratitude if you chip in here).
The NRA claims that the program has reached over 32 million children, saving “countless lives.”
Homicide was the second leading cause of death of American children in 2020, and firearms were by far the weapon of choice in those homicides. Source: Center for Disease Control
But what if it’s the guns that find the children? What if there’s nowhere to run? What if the children tell grown-ups, but they let the children get shot up so brutally that they can be identified only by their shoes — or even just their DNA?
We may not be able to count the number of children’s lives saved by the Eddie Eagle program, but we can certainly count the bodies of children ravaged by firearms.
Wittman praises the Eddie Eagle program, and sends the usual “thoughts and prayers”at all the usual times that Republicans do, but he consistently (as Republicans do) legislates against the most reasonable gun safety measures:
For example, Wittman:
- co-sponsored the DC Personal Protection Act (2007), which repealed DC’s requirement for the registration of firearms and its ban on semiautomatic weapons;
- co-sponsored the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009 (HR 197), which grants those with concealed carry permits in one state virtually the same rights in every state, even those that don’t permit their own residents to carry concealed weapons;
- voted against the 2019 and 2021 Background Check Expansion Acts, which require a background check for every firearms sale (2019), including private transfers (2021).
Herb Jones served in the military, retiring as a full Colonel after service that included two tours of Iraq. That was followed by two years in Afghanistan serving as an operations officer for the federal government. Herb knows guns. He also knows what it means to fear for the safety of a loved one: Herb’s wife was a high school principal when Sandy Hook happened; he was in Afghanistan and he says he realized that she was in greater danger in an American high school than he was in an overseas combat zone. He will not forget that experience and he will not forget our children.
I’ve met Herb several times and he’s the real deal. Please help him flip this seat by donating if you can and by supporting him on social media:
