An assault weapons ban, immunity for police officers, “motion to vacate”, and more…
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Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- BUILD SUPPORT FOR AN ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN
In the wake of Monterey Park, Senate Democrats have reintroduced a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, along with legislation to raise the age to purchase them to 21. Let’s make sure our senators have signed on as co-sponsors for the Assault Weapons Ban Act (S. 25). There haven been 39 mass shootings in January. We know we have a long road ahead of us to build support for this effort, but one thing we can do right now is get law enforcement to publicly endorse it. Let’s join Newtown Action Alliance and contact our police chiefs or other law enforcement officers to ask them to support these bills, and send them this letter to sign on to. (h/t Chop Wood, Carry Water) - END QUALIFIED IMMUNITY FOR POLICE OFFICERS Just two weeks after the incident, the Memphis Police Department fired the five officers whose use of excessive violence led to the death of Tyre Nichols. Unfortunately, such a quick response is still unusual. In most police departments, fewer than 10 percent of misconduct allegations are investigated. Even more unfortunately, the doctrine of qualified immunity is likely to protect these former officers, as well as the many others whose violent actions led to the deaths of their mostly Black victims from being subject to wrongful death lawsuits. The Cato Institute explains the issue very well in this article, arguing that qualified immunity is not only detrimental to victims, it also hinders the ability of well-meaning law enforcement officers to do their jobs. Let’s tell our MoCs to honor the victims of police violence by passing legislation prohibiting qualified immunity claims.
- BLOCK INSURRECTIONISTS FROM HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE While House Republicans have given important Committee assignments to supporters of the January 6 insurrection, state lawmakers are introducing bills to make sure that anyone convicted of participating in an insurrection does not hold public office or serve in a public position of trust. Let’s contact our state legislators and ask that they introduce and support bills preventing insurrectionists from holding office or positions of trust.
- WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Writing a letter to the editor of our local newspaper helps to raise local awareness about political issues that are important to us, among other reasons. In addition to writing directly to our paper, we can also use this template, hosted by the Indivisible Project, to write a letter to the editor at a local paper.
- ASK REPUBLICANS TO USE THE ‘MOTION TO VACATE’ FOR GOOD As part of his agreement with the far right to support his Speakership, Kevin McCarthy has agreed to allow any one member to file a motion to vacate the chair and force a no-confidence vote at any time. This makes him vulnerable to the House Freedom Caucus, but also gives more reasonable Republicans power as well – power they could use to prevent a debt default. If we’re represented by Republicans, and especially if we live in one of the Republican-held districts Joe Biden won, let’s contact our members of Congress and ask them to use this tool to stop McCarthy and the right from dragging us into crisis.
