Press Release: Coalition of Two Dozen Anti-Gun Violence Orgs Urge Americans to Vote in the Midterms If They Don’t Want to Be Killed In a Mass Shooting
Survivors, victims’ families and other gun violence prevention advocates release PSA depicting the fear Americans live in while we wait for the U.S. Senate to ban assault weapons.
WASHINGTON, October 25, 2022 – A coalition of two dozen gun violence prevention and other organizations are urging Americans to vote in the November 8, 2022 midterm elections like their lives depend on it in an eerie PSA depicting how Americans live with the constant fear of mass shootings. The PSA, created and produced by Chicago-based Quality Meats Creative, shows a variety of Americans expressing the bleak realities of sharing public spaces with assault weapons – fear in our schools, movie theaters, places of worship and more – and implores Americans to vote if they want to see a federal assault weapons ban passed.
The PSA is supported by two dozen organizations that are concerned about assault weapon violence including March Fourth, Brady, March For Our Lives, VoteVets, Change the Ref, Lives Robbed, Newton Action Alliance, No Future Without Today, Team ENOUGH and more. Members of these organizations have rallied on Capitol Hill to call on the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to pass the federal assault weapons ban most recently in two events organized by March Fourth, the non-partisan, grassroots community organization that also led the PSA.
March Fourth organized in D.C. just nine days after the Highland Park parade shooting, bringing survivors and victims’ families from Highland Park and Uvalde to march on Capitol Hill and meet with lawmakers. Weeks later, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1808, the first significant movement on a federal assault weapons ban in decades. The group’s current goal is to motivate the U.S. Senate to vote on and pass S. 736, sending it to President Biden for signature, who said in late July that he will “not stop fighting” until the Senate passes the bill.
“The PSA hits hard because it’s the reality we’ve chosen to accept,” said Kitty Brandtner, Founder, March Fourth. “But we have a choice, and we’ll choose to vote out any elected official that won’t agree with the majority of Americans who want a ban on assault weapons.”
The federal assault weapons ban has received a groundswell of support in light of recent mass shootings, including from more than 1,000 physicians and medical professionals who join the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups to call for a federal ban while firearms lead causes of death for American children and teens.
The midterms are critical to the future of the ban: thirty-five Senate seats are up for grabs in November. Ten of those are highly competitive races, expected to decide the majority and with that, whether or not a vote on the assault weapons ban is possible. With President Biden positioned to sign a Senate-passed bill into law, the stakes of this election could not be higher.
"Americans are ready to vote out members of Congress who don't care to end mass shootings in America,” said Maureen Westphal, President, March Fourth. “Nothing will change if our elected leaders don't – let's force a change and take their jobs."
A previous version of the PSA was released ahead of the September “Pass the Ban” rally where survivors and victims’ families from more than ten mass shootings came together to demand the Senate pass the federal assault weapons ban. The PSA and more information about how voters can help secure a federal assault weapons ban can be found at passtheban.org.
Media contact: media@wemarchfourth.org
ABOUT MARCH FOURTH
March Fourth is a non-partisan, grassroots community organization formed shortly after the Highland Park, Ill. parade shooting on July 4, 2022. The volunteer-run organization is on a mission to end mass shootings by advocating for a federal assault weapons ban.