Praise jeebus, the President just stuck his neck way out on the gun issue, and he did it with a set of proposals that non-lunatics will find pretty damn reasonable. Obama’s main problem now is Congress and the squish factor. Your Representatives only know what they hear from constituents and what they see on cable news, and most days the only thing dumber and more reactionary than one is the other. Have a laugh at Beck and Limbaugh and the NRA, but respect their ability to get moron followers to dial the phone. Your Representative turns on the news and he sees FOX, or someone trying to be FOX. His call summaries tell him that Agenda 21 is a thing, grabbing guns will make us like the Soviets but worse and breaking the debt ceiling is like tightening your belt at home. Or, as Yeats said, The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
If you want things to be different then get involved. The preznit thinks that guns are a political pressure point where calls might do some good. The guy seems to know what he’s doing, so get his back and pick up the phone. If you still have some time then try phoning a media outlet when you see something particularly outrageous (or praiseworthy!) and write a signed letter to the editor.
This is a message for everyone. You will need to talk a lot of Democratic Reps down from the ledge before they panic on the Sunday shows and cut off the President’s knees. Republicans need to remember that their district still has sane people in it.
Q: My Republican is an idiot. Should I phone him or her?
A: Yes.
Q: Even Virginia Foxx?
A: Yes goddamit, even Virginia Foxx. Full court press. Now git.
Find your Congressperson here.
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Guide for first timers below the jump.
Please use this thread to talk about how your Rep and Senators’ staffers are responding to the President’s proposal.
***Update***
From Handsmile in the comments:
During his remarks, President Obama asked each one of us to call his/her Congressional representatives to ask two or three questions: “Do you support universal background checks on gun purchases? and Do you support Congressional legislation on restrictions on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines? And if the answer is ‘No’, ask Why not?” [quotation may not be exact]
Sounds like a plan.
(1) Use a phone. Email has nigh on zero impact. Trust me on this. Letter mail gets read and in fact has the most impact of all, but you don’t have time. Reach the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 .
(2) Remember, this person works for you. You pay his or her salary and you voted for them. You’re the boss here, or at least one of them, and it’s they who should worry about what you think of them.
(3) Identify your name and the town or neighborhood where you live zip code. If you are not a constituent don’t bother. Since you guys never listen to me, at least google a zip code in the appropriate district before you call.
(4) State the issue. This is easy: pass the Senate bill or the party gets it. We can (and certainly will) fix the shortcomings later. Talking points above.
(5) How strongly do you feel? Don’t apologize about feeling passionate or pissed off. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. However, keep in mind that teabaggers threaten the apocalypse over everything. Interns get jaded pretty fast when call volume is high. Polite but firm is the way to go.
Xecky Gilchrist
Remember, this person works for you. You pay his or her salary and you voted for them.
Ahem.
But the rest of your point is well taken.
handsmile
Tim F:
Your role often seems to be the Whip of this website, for which you earn much deserved praise. Thanks once more.
At the risk of annoying some (but fuck that actually), I’m re-posting here my comment from the earlier “The President Today…” thread:
“Watching the presentation, I have never been prouder of the two men for whom I voted, worked for, and donated to in 2008 and 2012 to lead this country. Obama’s speech was magnificent, drawing upon the registers of emotion, pragmatism, and advocacy. One of his very best, in an already supremely impressive catalogue.
During his remarks, President Obama asked each one of us to call his/her Congressional representatives to ask two or three questions: “Do you support universal background checks on gun purchases? and Do you support Congressional legislation on restrictions on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines? And if the answer is ‘No’, ask Why not?” [quotation may not be exact]
If you believe in new gun safety regulations, then it’s on you (and me, and us) as President Obama and Vice President Biden made explicitly clear in their remarks. “This won’t happen if the American people don’t demand it.”
Let me encourage you to make those calls now rather than reading comment threads at the Washington Post or listening to the pundits on Village television.
(I called the offices of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Senators Gillibrand and Schumer before writing this comment.)”
jibeaux
Your set of proposals link is borked.
I’m going to write a real letter, explaining why the particular proposals are no-brainers. I can get it out this afternoon.
Tim F.
@jibeaux: Thanks. Fixed.
@handsmile: Awesome. What did you hear?
Tom Levenson
my rep is the latest Kennedy (the one who still needs permission to be out past 10:30 at night) to serve the district in which Jack went to the elementary school my son now attends. My senators are Warren and Kerry (for the nonce). I have no worries about their votes — but per protocol, I’ll call ’em anyway.
Lex
Oh, and if you actually get a congresscritter, or a staffer (or an idiot in-law) who says, “Well, these things wouldn’t have stopped Newtown” (which is probably true in most cases), you say, “The point isn’t to stop Newtown. The point is to bring the OVERALL GUN DEATH RATE — HOMICIDES, SUICIDES, ACCIDENTS — WAY, WAY DOWN.” And these measures WILL do that.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
President just stuck his neck way out on the gun issue
Since polls favoring some gun regs runs @60% I don’t know what you mean. Oh, you mean with Congress? Yeah he’s really walking the tightrope.
mtraven
My representative is Jackie Speier, who still has slugs in her from when she was shot by Jim Jones cultists in Guyana. I’m pretty sure she’ll be on board.
Southern Beale
Please Cancel My NRA Membership.
A good read …
Todd
Well, I called and laid in my opinion with my Teatard (Kentucky’s newest idiot Tom Massie) for all the good it will do.
gogol's wife
Murphy and Blumenthal are on board, no big surprise.
Schlemizel
Called my Congressman & both Senators . . . but I think everyone in their offices knows my voice by now, I keep expecting them to ask me how my kids are.
handsmile
@Tim F.:
(oh gee…thanks for that)
I’m one of those, and I’m represented by three of those, that Obama referred to today as “the usual suspects.” Which is to say that I knew of their supportive positions already, but also knew that calls matter.
I’m very grateful to be represented by one of the more progressive members of the House. On gun issues, Gillibrand’s trajectory as Senator as been interesting to observe: from NRA acolyte to apostate (at least in LaPierre’s red-rimmed eyes).
JPL
If you want to see gun control pass the Senate, call Reid and demand filibuster reform first. Filibuster reform will be instrumental in getting laws to the floor of the Senate.
(202-224-3542)
David Hunt
I’m in Texas in District 17, represented by Bill Flores. I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in Hell that they’ll vote in a sane fashion, but I’ll give it go with him and my horrific Senators tomorrow (can’t today).
JPL
@David Hunt: I live in GA so I feel your pain. I did write a few weeks back asking them to lead on the subject and have received one response. The problem is video games…
handsmile
@Southern Beale:
Thanks for posting that link. I think one possibly quite effective tactic to apply pressure and shift/buttress public opinion would be to have NRA members use the tools of mass media (television, radio, newspapers) to denounce the organization’s radical/diabolical leadership/policies, cancel their memberships and suspend other financial contributions.
To that end, this morning I sent an email to Joe Scarborough asking him to advocate that position as part of his much-trumpeted (by him and his Morning Joe pals) conversion on gun rights/gun safety issues after the Newtown massacre.
@Schlemizel:
For the second time today, I have reason to thank you: this time for a much-needed laugh!
PeakVT
@Xecky Gilchrist: I think FSM would forgive a little white lie in pursuit of this cause.
RoonieRoo
I’m working on my “talking points” before I call my Republican moron of a rep. Most BJers already know my story. I have been personally and deeply affected by this issue. My first husband was a diagnosed and frequent hospital patient with paranoid schizophrenia. He had absolutely no problem buying the gun he used to kill himself.
I’m just trying to work on how to do this phone call in a sane, clear, adult manner that makes my point and well enough that it will make an impact.
I suppose I’m most nervous about talking to the person who will answer for my nutjob rep as I don’t know that I will be able to stay adult and clear if I get any push back on it.
WaterGirl
@RoonieRoo: It’s my experiece that they just want me to shut up so they can put a checkmark in a column for my zip code. Slam, bam, than you ma’m is whtat they seem to want in Illinois.
On the other hand, you might be in a position to change the mind of the phone answerer if they hear your story.
I feel pretty certan that I changed the mind of someone who was phonng for republican donations this summer. That’s got to help things in some way.
Last but not least, I am so sorry about your dreadful experience.
BruinKid
My Senator has already released a statement praising Obama for the sensible measures he’s taken today. Of course, the issue of gun control and gun safety has been very personal to her ever since she discovered Harvey Milk’s body. My other Senator has also given a speech essentially saying the same thing. Their D.C. offices seem to be getting flooded with calls right now, so I’ll try their local offices.
My parents’ Congresswoman has also already praised Obama’s plan for gun safety.
Sometimes living in California has its benefits. :-)
Susan K of the tech support
Before I read this thread, I’d already called my new congresswoman, Grace Napolitano (buh bye David Dreier, wish you woulda done something about addressing climate change before your last day!).
Then I wrote 2 emails to Senator Feinstein — 1 email: yes to filibuster reform, followed a little while later with 2nd email to express support for the president’s measures regarding gun safety, oh and thanks for plans to reintroduce the assault ban.
Wrote 1 email to Senator Boxer — Yes to filibuster reform…
Came upon this thread while waiting for a bit of time to pass before addressing changes in gun law. Was persuaded to call on the fone (I called local LA County office for Boxer) to state my support for President’s proposals. (Oh, and Filibuster Reform for the WIN)
Responses, when I called Napolitano’s and Boxer’s offices: “Thanks, I’ll make sure the Senator knows”
. . . . . .
The next time I call, as legislation moves forward and more calls are needed, I will identify myself as a life member of the NRA (it was gifted to me by my Dad around the time of his death… I saw the Mother Jones item about the number of NRA members and I wonder if my Dad’s lifetime membership is still on their rolls even tho he’s been dead a few years).
THANK YOU, Southern Beale, for that “Dear NRA” link. I’ve been wondering whether I want to have the letters to the editor fight with the mag they send me; the Armed Citizen thing is all very well, but I want to know what the magazines editors and other NRA members think about all the wrongful deaths due to police shootings, i.e., shootings of dogs, a drug bust that goes down at the wrong address, and the Armed Citizen attempting to defend from an intruder gets shot and killed dead. What does the NRA think about the elevated SWAT team police trends?
Oh dear. I see I have semi-threadjacked this, talking about more than my citizen arming myself with a phone or an email to send my thoughts to my elected representatives.
Spaghetti Lee
I am…NO LONGER represented by Joe Walsh! Too bad, I could’ve used someone to yell at. I’ll tell Kirk that his ass is toast in ’16 if he doesn’t support this. You don’t get statewide office in IL by being a Teabagger, most of the time.
Southern Beale
That Pennsylvania father who accidentally shot and killed his son in the parking lot of a gun store? Yeah, he’s suffered enough.
Personally. as long as they’re hauling pregnant women off to jail for having a beer or snort of coke, I think negligent gun owners should have the fucking book thrown at them.
aimai
@RoonieRoo:
I commend you for trying and I offer you this
“Speak your mind/though your voice shakes.”
Rather than worrying about how you are going to word it call them up and just say straight out “I have something important to say on this topic and it is very upsetting to me and may be upsetting to you. My dear husband…” Better to start and have to stop than never to start at all.
BruinKid
OK, I reached my Senators’ local offices, and they’re on board with gun safety, so I broadened it to register my support for real filibuster reform changes so that the Senate GOP can’t keep obstructing every single damn thing, including any upcoming vote on gun safety.
Also called Rep. Judy Chu’s office, and of course they were on board with Obama’s gun safety measures as well. :-)
Kip the Wonder Rat
Just got off the phone with the phone staffer for Lewis (GA-4). He says that the Congressman agrees with the President completely. BUT, “the other side has been much more vocal today.”
Hey, I did my share. Have all of you weenies called YOUR congressperson?
Susan K of the tech support
ruh roh. moderation. was it the link, or some other FYWP word I used?
handsmile
@RoonieRoo:
I’m one who didn’t know your story. The action you’re considering takes one hell of a lot more courage than what I had to summon in calling representatives that I knew fully supported new gun safety measures.
In my experience at least, these calls are often brief and straightforward: overworked staff don’t wish to remain very long on telephone calls with constituents (unless you’re offering financial contributions).
Tim F. has a good basic script (#3, 4, 5) above. I always begin my call with a greeting to whomever answers. Expect to identify yourself (again) and to confirm your constituency.
State as briefly as you can the reason for your call, i.e, the position you endorse, the strength of your conviction and maybe why you have been moved to call, and your wish that the representative consider supporting it. At that point, you are usually thanked for your call. Rarely have I encountered “pushback.” At the same time, rarely have I had the satisfaction that my call “made an impact.” Starkly, we are numbers on a tally sheet. Sometimes that’s enough or at least a place to start.
My apologies if you are already well-practiced in this ritual of citizenship. Good luck with your call; I expect you will have not too much trouble remaining “sane, clear and adult.” I’m just sorry you don’t have a more worthy representative.
kindness
If you Representative is Virginia Foxx, get in the members only elevator with her and chew her out. She’ll call security on you when you get to her floor but who cares, you know they have to hate her too.
Darkrose
@ BruinKid: My Senators are the same as yours. I wrote DiFi a long email earlier in the year about filibuster reform, so I’m glad other people are as well.
I went to Doris Matsui’s website, and of course she’s totally on board. Her statement also says:
I love her so much. I will be so sad when we move out of her district.
Darkrose
@RoonieRoo: I’m sorry that you have to tell your story, but I thank you for doing so.
Kristin
My rep is newly elected Ami Bera. I called his DC office, and the intern who answered couldn’t tell me what his position is. They’re going to send me something. It’s annoying, but I have a feeling I know what his position is, and, if I’m right, it’s strongly in support of the President’s proposal.
My best friend’s estranged husband killed himself with a gun less than 2 years ago, and left two beautiful children behind. I don’t want to hear anymore about how victimized NRA members are anymore. They can sod off.
Tonal Crow
Also too, consider calling your *state* representatives and urging them to tighten gun regulation.
In addition to the usual limits, please consider proposing:
1. Requiring liability insurance for every gun owner, with a minimum of coverage like $1 million. One wrong shot can easily kill someone, so $1 million seems like a bare minimum.
2. Banning intoxicated carry, period, with criminal and civil penalties at least as stringent as those for driving while intoxicated.
3. For the bluest states, banning carry — except for hunting in season with appropriate weapons — outside the home. This isn’t the wild west anymore, and thank FSM.
hope ohara
I usually call my rep’s local office – is it better to call the switchboard? FWIW my rep’s office folks are dicks.
gogol's wife
@Tonal Crow:
Good ideas.
Jay C
@handsmile:
Yes: I remember when then-Gov Patterson named Kirsten Gillibrand to Hilary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat, and the Usual Lefty Suspects went into Full Wail Mode (for some reason, they had fixated on getting Caroline Kennedy into the seat (?) ) – and were sure that Gillibrand – because she was from Upstate – would prove to be a full-bore gun nut and a shill for the NRA. OK Then…..
And Sens. Gillibrand and Schumer and Rep. Maloney are my Congressional delegation as well: I’ll make a point to communicate to them, even though their positions are already on the right side.
John M. Burt
Pretty sure all of my people in Washington were already on the right side and not going to buckle, but I called to add my bit of pressure on the side of righteousness.
Darkrose
@Tonal Crow: Great ideas. I’d also add:
4. Ammunition purchases should, at a minimum, require the same restrictions that are required to purchase sudaphedrine, a legal drug.
John M. Burt
RoonieRoo, please get back to us and tell us how you did, even if it’s only to ask for solace because you couldn’t do it.
I’m holding you in the Light on this one.
DFH no.6
I called my Rep (Schweikert – R, Snobsdale) and both Senators (John McCain – did you know he was a POW? – and newly-minted Elder Fascist Jeff Flake).
Their office people were polite, as always, but no, none of them were going to be voting for Obama’s proposal.
AZ is the land of conceal carry whatever, whenever, and wherever (mostly) you want, no permit needed.
Don’t even think about looking sideways at the 2nd Amendment around these parts.
And to be honest, I’ll state my unpopular-in-liberal-circles opinion that – with 300 million+ guns extant, and SCOTUS ruling the 2nd Amendment does confer a right to “bear arms” to individual citizens (which even Obama says he agrees with) – the gun control debate was lost a generation ago, and will remain mostly on the NRA side of things for generations to come.
Oh, we will likely do some things around the margins, sooner or later, like more stringent background checks, and closing gun show loopholes, and magazine limits. But we are not putting the 300 million+ genies back in the bottle, and gun violence will remain high in America for a long, long time.
Love to be wrong about that, but I don’t see it.
Citizen Alan
Well, for what it’s worth, I did my bit for democracy. Wicker and Nunnellee worth worthless, as usual, but the guy speaking on behalf of Thad Cochran hinted that he might be amenable to expanded background checks for private sales and gun show sales. He will likely oppose a ban on assault weapons but his spokesman says that he will consider any actual legislation for regulation of same that makes it to the Senate floor instead of reflexively saying now. Nunnelee’s spokesperson actually returned my phone call (which was unexpected) but he’s opposed to pretty much any additional gun legislation because “criminals just ignore the law,” which is a statement so vacuous that it is hard to argue with.
Boxofhammers
Called my Oregon D Rep, Bonamici and D Senators, Merkeley and Wyden. Have no reason to believe Wyden is likely to squish on this but since his embrace-the-crazy love-fest w/Paul Ryan over Medicare reform he’s the one I worry about.
aimai
@DFH no.6:
So what? Doing nothing is not an option. Also–according to stats there are lots of guns, but fewer owners. So gun violence will go down eventually because the market for people who want to own those guns is going down over time. If grandpa owns sixty guns he is still negligently operating only one of them at a time. And when grandpa dies who is going to buy those guns if stricter legislation is enforced? Rther than moaning about how long its going to take to get rid of 300 million guns just get up and start getting rid of a few every day. Or deal with the ammo problem.
Jim H
Called my congress-critter, Tom Price (R-GA) and a staffer said (dismissively) that Rep. Price’s support for both universal background checks and restrictions on high capacity weapons would “depend” on the language of the bill.
I took both the attitude of the staffer and the non-answer as being non-committal but I also urged him to in fact support background checks for ALL gun sales. Given Price’s past, I don’t hold out much hope but, there it is…
janeform
Just called Rep. Dingell’s DC office. He supports reasonable measures but doesn’t have a statement on specifics, must take 2nd amendment into account blah blah blah. Staffer said they’re getting a lot of calls and they’re running 50/50.
JCT
@DFH no.6: I’m in Arizona as well and got the same response from McCain and Idiot Flake’s flunkies. I just said that I really don’t understand why we have to facilitate mass killing with 30-round mags and that maybe, just maybe the NRA shouldn’t get everything they want.
At the very least I wish the idiot media would ask these guys why everything should be the way the NRA wants, especially regarding hi-capacity mags and background checks.
At this point I’ll take that – beats the status quo.
Rhubarb
Well, calling Cornyn and Cruz Makes talking to the wall look like really meaningful communication. Cruz doesn’t even record his own message. Got an actual person at Eddie Bernice Johnson’s office, and am pretty sure she’s on board.
And Roonie Roo, I am so sorry for your trouble.
Boxofhammers
@DFH no.6:
“300 million+ guns extant, and SCOTUS ruling the 2nd Amendment does confer a right to “bear arms” to individual citizens… – the gun control debate was lost a generation ago…”
The # of guns has risen but the percentage of American homes with a gun has fallen steadily for decades. The huge majority of Americans know that hunting and self-defense doesn’t have anything to do w/buying a Bushmaster to “Get your man-card renewed” or a Glock w/a 30 round magazine.
Murderous nuts in the rest of the 1st World have a really hard time getting semi-autos w/high-capacity mags. Our murderous nuts can buy them like candy. So we’ll continue to see close to 90% of the really huge mass-killings in the 1st World… made in America.
Future Sandy Hook/Aurora theater/Seattle-Cafe Racer/Sikh Temple/etc… shootings by nuts w/semi-autos who got them legally are going to get a lot more coverage. We may not get the gun safety legislation we need this time. It may take a couple more elections, but we’ll get there.
Haydnseek
Hi BruinKid. Judy Chu was my rep. for years before redistricting recently. She’s a member of the Progressive Caucus, so I figured we were on the same page. Even though I’m still in CA 32, I now have a new rep, one Grace Napolitano. I called her DC office today and talked to a staffer/intern, and he said that he didn’t want to say anything about Obama’s proposals because she hadn’t talked to them yet, and he didn’t want to misrepresent her position. I liked that response. He now has my phone number and e-mail adress, and assured me that I would receive a timely response to my questions. We’ll see.
jibeaux
Have a brand new winger rep from redistricting, George Holding, who has not staked himself out as ground zero for crazy but is an unknown quantity at this point, as in unknown where he’ll be on the spectrum from bad to complete fucking embarrassment. Office had no position on it yet & politely took the message.
DFH no.6
@Tonal Crow:
Well, this is one of those items that I think of as “on the margins” of gun control that can actually (and probably will) be advanced in some states that are currently somewhat loose about carrying weapons.
I say “on the margins” because I don’t see banning carry as actually having much (I’d even venture noticeable) effect on gun violence.
In the now-fake “wild west’ here in AZ open carry has been legal for a long time, and conceal carry without even a permit has been legal for a couple years, and neither of those things has made the instance of gun violence here significantly different than most other states.
It’s not the carrying of guns (legally or illegally, open or concealed) it’s the 300 million of the fucking things out there in the US of A, with many millions of those modern, military-style weapons loaded with modern, high-power ammunition.
We aren’t buying them all back, we aren’t going to undo the 2nd Amendment, and we aren’t prying them from millions of cold, dead hands.
We’ll do relatively futile stuff (IMAO) on the margins, but the reality is we’re fucking stuck with them for a long goddamn time.
Haydnseek
@Tonal Crow: Thanks for the reminder. California has strict gun regulations, at least compared to most of the country, but I tend to forget the state legislature. We need to keep the fire lit under their asses on this. Thanks again.
Mandarama
Ok, here in TN I’ve called Cooper, Alexander, and Corker. All 3 offices said “He hasn’t determined a position on the issue yet”–yeah, right. Weenies.–but they’d be happy to take my comments. So I gave my nicest Southern nonpartisan ingenue voice and said that the guns my granddad used and taught me about on the farm would still be fine with these new safety measures, so it seemed pretty common sense to me. I also pointed out that as a mom I was scared of high capacity magazines because of the manic efficiency of the shooting in CT.
Corker’s aide was even laughing at my speculation of what my granddad would say to anyone taking that much ammo into the woods. (It would be scathing and colorful.)
esme
I called mine: Bachmann (left a message, will call again tomorrow), Franken, and Kobuchar. Klobuchar’s intern wouldn’t commit on anything, but sounded relieved when I said I was calling to encourage Klobuchar to support the President’s proposals. I’m afraid she’s been getting a lot of grief from the other side.
DFH no.6
@aimai:
aimai, you likely missed my response to you on the earlier thread (the one with the Obama video) since I chimed in there so late. You can read that if you want (near the end) or not.
I’ll re-iterate somewhat: I’ve loved reading your comments on the various lefty blogs for years now. You’re one of my favorites (up there with Davis X. Machina and a few others who’ve probably been around since Media Whores Online).
You are cogent, perceptive, liberally-minded, well-informed, and obviously really care about important stuff (like this topic).
I’ve almost never disagreed with anything of yours I’ve read.
But on this important topic I do disagree.
Not with the purpose, the intent of what you want accomplished. Of course not.
It’s the utility (or rather, futility) of meaningful gun control in America as it actually is (and, I believe, will likely remain for a long time – really, until the 2nd Amendment is repealed and some way is found to get the number of guns out there to a small fraction of what is out there now. Till we’re Western Europe, I guess).
By meaningful, I mean actually having a truly significant effect on gun violence. Again, a regime something like Western Europe.
There is nothing being proposed that is remotely like that, nor likely to be in the foreseeable.
As I see it, liberals lost the gun control debate a generation ago (if not earlier). Even with Newtown, a much smaller percentage of Americans favor gun control in general today than back when the Brady bill passed.
I hope I am wrong and you are right.
imonlylurking
@esme: That is interesting news about Klobuchar. I thought she would be a lock.
I’ll call her tomorrow. I’m not worried about Franken or Ellison but I’ll call them both anyway.
Ron
@Tonal Crow: well, my state just issued the tightest gun regs in the country, so I’ll pass on that one.
Ruckus
@DFH no.6:
What’s the old saw?
A journey begins with the first step.
I fear you are correct but the only way to move forward in a democracy is little steps, two forward, one back. We have an opening here and we owe it to ourselves to leave the world a better place than we found it. Otherwise why are we bothering?
Joy in Florida
I just called and left messages for Bill Nelson and Gus Bilirakis. Marco Rubio’s line is busy, so far for 3 tries. I’ll keep trying.
Siobhra DeWar
Pardon me but didn’t Code Pink protest the NRA when they called for armed guards in the schools? Where were they today when Obama called for more cops in the schools? I understand they are armed.
NCSteve
@Xecky Gilchrist: No, I totally did not vote for my representative. Who is, in fact, Virginia Foxx.
coredump
Called Tim Walberg – (R) – MI – CD 7. Got a template response. Let staff answering know that I strongly supported the President’s proposal. Got template response on how Mr. Walberg was a strong supporter of the 2nd Ammendment. I told the person that I wanted Mr. Walberg to ask himself – how many more kids would have to be killed before he considered supporting the president’s proposals.
-C-
neworleansreader
I called Landrieu and Vitter – neither has a position on any of the three proposals. Unsurprising. I also called Congressman Richmond (D LA-2) – and got the same answer! He’s like the most loyal Obama guy out there, but apparently doesn’t have his act together on this one yet. Bad sign.