Dear Allies:

We invite your organization to sign the 9th Sandy Hook Anniversary Letter to Congress by filling out THIS FORM by December 8, 2021.  

December 14, 2021 is the nine-year mark of the Sandy Hook tragedy and every year the families, survivors, and advocates have hand-delivered an anniversary letter to every member of Congress. Due to the Delta variant, we will not be joined by hundreds of families, survivors and advocates on Capitol Hill this year therefore, we will be delivering the letter to every member of Congress via e-mail.

Once again, we will be asking Congress to endorse/embrace the Denver Accord and pass a strong package of comprehensive gun safety measures to reduce ALL forms of gun violence in our nation.

The gun lobby has been relentless in its pursuit of its guns-to-anyone-everywhere agenda by playing offense for decades and we have been negotiating against ourselves with our incremental approach. We made some progress with the House of Representatives passing HR8 and HR1446 in March but we need the House to pass additional lifesaving bills AND we must continue to demand that the Senate #EndTheFilibuster to pass HR8, HRA1446 and other lifesaving gun laws.

Gun deaths have risen significantly since the Sandy Hook shooting because NO substantive federal gun safety legislation has been signed into law.

We urge your organization to sign-on to our coalition letter!

Special thank you to Devin Hughes and Penny Okamoto from GVPedia for their work on the Denver Accord. 

Best Regards,
Po Murray
Chair, Newtown Action Alliance
#HonorWithAction
#EndGunViolence

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9TH SANDY HOOK ANNIVERSARY LETTER TO CONGRESS:

December 14, 2021

Dear Senator _______ or Representative _______:

Nine years ago today, a gunman used an AR-15 with high capacity magazines to brutally murder 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since that horrific day, over 900,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns in towns and cities across our nation; there have been more than 3600 mass shooting incidents (4 or more people shot); and the number of annual gun deaths has increased to 45,000 in 2020.

The House of Representatives passed two background check bills in March but no federal gun violence prevention laws have been signed into law in the last nine years. In fact, no federal life-saving laws have been signed into law in 27 years since the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban passed in 1994.

Gun violence is a public health emergency! We implore the House of Representatives to pass additional gun safety legislation and the Senate to #EndTheFilibuster to pass lifesaving gun laws. All Members of Congress must find the courage to reject the corporate gun lobby and start passing a set of comprehensive gun violence prevention laws to protect all Americans.

A coalition of gun violence prevention survivors, advocates, and researchers from across the country gathered at the GVPedia Conference in Denver, Colorado in April, 2019 to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Columbine shooting, and to forge a path forward to a safer America. From this assembly the Denver Accord was born, a declaration of guiding principles and policies to end the scourge of gun violence in America.

It’s time for Congress to #HonorWithAction to #EndGunViolence. Therefore, a coalition of gun violence prevention organizations and allies representing _____ Americans implore you to pass the policy recommendations outlined in the GVPedia’s Denver Accord to steadily reduce gun homicides, gun suicides, unintentional shootings, mass shootings, police violence and gun injuries in America.

The Denver Accord: Principles and Policies:
● Guns do not make us safer.
● Gun violence in America is a pervasive public health crisis that demands substantial policy solutions and well-funded programs that effectively reduce gun violence.
● Equitable and just enforcement of gun laws is paramount.
● Everyone has the right to live free from violence.

Section I: Put Safety First
1. LICENSING
1.1 Firearm owners must receive a “may issue” permit-to-purchase (license) from law enforcement. “May issue” Permit-to-purchase (PTP) gives discretion to law enforcement for final decision to grant a permit. That decision may be appealed.
1.2 All permit-to-purchase applicants shall:
1.2.1. pass a background check through the National Instant Check System (NICS) or by the applicant’s state police (if the State has a Point of Contact system),
1.2.2. be at least 21 years of age,
1.2.3. undergo fingerprinting,
1.2.4. undergo live-fire training, and
1.2.5. undergo substantive, standardized classroom training.
1.3 Applicants will be disqualified if they have a history of:
1.3.1. Any violent misdemeanor convictions, or
1.3.2. two or more drug- or alcohol-related convictions within a three year period, or
1.3.3. any convictions for a misdemeanor or felony hate crime, or
1.3.4. any convictions for misdemeanor stalking,
1.3.5. any convictions for misdemeanor domestic or dating violence, or
1.3.6. are subject to ex parte or final domestic or dating violence protective orders.
1.4 A permit holder will undergo a waiting period of seven calendar days from the date of purchase to the date of possession.
2. REGISTRATION
2.1. Firearms must be registered to the owner and include the make, model, and serial number of the firearms.
2.2. An electronic and searchable firearm registration database will be housed and maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
3. EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDER (ERPO)
3.1. Order is submitted to a federal database to prevent future purchases of firearms while the order is in effect.
3.2. Allow individuals to place themselves under an ERPO.
3.3. Allow family, peace officers, and medical professionals to apply for an order.
4. SAFE STORAGE
4.1 Personal Safe Storage
4.1.1. Enact a Federal Child Access Prevention (CAP) law with a felony penalty.
4.1.2. Provide for accountability in all cases of theft or loss in which the firearm owner cannot show proof of safe storage.
4.1.3. Mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms to reduce gun trafficking.
4.2 Federal Firearms License (FFL) Dealers Safe Storage
4.2.1. Mandate standardized security measures including security cameras.
4.2.2. Digitize inventory records (Acquisition and Data Book).
4.2.3. Mandate reporting of lost or stolen firearms to reduce gun trafficking.
4.2.4. Revoke FFL license in cases of substantial failure.
4.2.5. Increase ATF audits of FFLs.
5. REDUCE FIREARM LETHALITY
5.1 Assault Weapons
5.1.1. Prohibit future sale and transfer of assault style, semi-automatic firearms.
5.1.2. Grandfather existing assault style, semi-automatic weapons under the National Firearms Act.
5.1.3. Prohibit open and concealed carrying of semi-automatic and automatic assault weapons.
5.1.4. Create a federal gun buyback program.
5.2 Short-Barreled Rifles
5.2.1. Revise existing NFA regulations on short-barreled rifles to include bullpup style firearms.
5.2.2. Develop policy to limit high caliber handguns because of their increased lethality.
5.3 Additional Firearm Safety Devices
5.3.1. Incentivize market development of modern security features, like smart guns, through mandated public spending.
5.4 Ghost Guns
5.4.1. Ban gun components from which a firearm without a serial number can be readily manufactured of otherwise assembled.
5.4.2. Ban 3D printing of guns by unlicensed manufacturers or dealers.
5.4.3. Ban distribution of gun blueprints for 3D printers.
5.4.4. Mandate that all firearms must be visible to security screening devices.
5.5 Reduce Ammunition Lethality
5.5.1. Prohibit specific types of ammunition designed to substantially increase lethality, including armor piercing rounds, hydro-shock rounds, fragmenting rounds, and hollow points.
5.5.2. Prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, or possession of high-capacity magazines (more than ten rounds in a magazine).
5.5.3. Develop a national ballistic fingerprinting database.
Section II: Let Laws Work
6. STRENGTHEN AND ENFORCE EXISTING GUN LAWS
6.1. Strengthen The National Instant Check System (NICS)
6.1.1. Require NICS checks for all sales and transfers, including private sales.
6.1.2. Close Default Proceed Loophole (known as the “Charleston Loophole”) which forces approval of any outstanding query of NICS after three days.
6.1.3. Include adjudicated mental health records in NICS.
6.1.4. Repeal Tiahrt Amendment which hamstrings the ATF and requires the FBI to destroy potential evidence in gun crimes.
6.1.5. Require United States military records to be added to NICS.
6.1.6. Incentivize or mandate timely state reporting to NICS.
6.2 Enforce Current Law
6.2.1. Ensure all firearms are seized and possession rights are forfeited when a person becomes a prohibited purchaser or possessor.
6.2.2. Revoke firearm permits, licenses, and concealed handgun licenses when a person becomes a prohibited purchaser or possessor.
6.2.3. Require judges to inform prohibited purchasers or possessors they are no longer allowed to own firearms after conviction.
6.2.4. Improve coordination between local, state, and federal law enforcement and prosecutors to ensure prohibited abusers and people subject to orders prohibiting possession of firearms do not retain illegally possessed firearms.
6.2.5. Incentivize states to deter and prosecute individuals who lie on background check forms.
6.3 Demand Accountability
6.3.1. Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
6.3.2. Create a federal offense of firearm trafficking.
6.3.3. Limit state concealed carry reciprocity to permit-to-purchase states only.
6.3.4. Allow the ATF to maintain a registry on guns, gun owners, and gun sales.
6.3.5. Digitize ATF records.
6.4 International
6.4.1. The weapons and ammunition currently controlled under U.S. Munition List Categories I-III should remain under the control of the US State Department.
6.4.2. Address legal export of firearms to countries with known human rights violations through compliance of the Leahy Law.
6.4.3. Demand US ratification of and adherence to the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty.
6.5 Repeal the Dickey Amendment and fully fund research into gun violence and gun violence prevention laws.
Section III: Protect Community
7. REDUCE PRESENCE OF FIREARMS IN PUBLIC SPACES
7.1. Allow municipalities discretion to ban concealed or open carry in public spaces, public buildings, and at events, in addition to gun-free zones.
7.2. Repeal Stand Your Ground Laws.
7.3. Prohibit firearms on public university or school grounds, with exceptions for military, police, ROTC, and shooting teams.
8. FUND AND PROLIFERATE COMMUNITY BASED SOLUTIONS
8.1 Public health, community-located models
8.1.1. Proliferation and funding of focused deterrence models.
8.1.2. Proliferation and funding of violence interruption models.
8.1.3. Study of, and funding for, incentivized mentorship programs.
8.1.4. Fund harm-reduction public education campaigns.
8.2 Hospital Based Intervention Programs
8.2.1. Proliferation and funding of Hospital Based Intervention Programs.
8.2.2. Expand trauma-informed care and access to trauma therapy.
8.2.3. Train mental health care providers to emphasize removing lethal means.
9. POLICE REFORM
9.1 Community based policing
9.1.1. Provide incentives for community-based policing and programs.
9.1.2. Shift away from “Broken Window Theory” policing.
9.2 Safety
9.2.1. Develop additional non-lethal tools police can deploy instead of a firearm.
9.2.2. Require the reporting of lost or stolen service weapons to ensure accountability.
9.3 Education
9.3.1. De-escalation training for law enforcement and Student Resource Officers in schools.
9.3.2. Train police officers in active shooter drills that are not held in the presence of students where child trauma can occur.
9.3.3. Allow for diversion of Student Resource Officer funding to student mental health resources where deemed appropriate by local leaders.
9.3.4. Mandate and increase already existing levels of implicit bias training.
9.4 Accountability
9.4.1. Fund and use body cameras.
9.4.2. Develop standards to ensure accurate data collection on police-involved shootings.
9.4.3. Mandate and fund law enforcement collection and analysis of firearm-related ballistic and trace evidence.
9.4.4. Raise legal standards for justifiable use of lethal force.

Congress can and must do more to end gun violence in America!

Sincerely,
Newtown Action Alliance
And Allies


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