You're busy, so I'll be very quick.

[Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, I have a short, no-nonsense update for you today. Because on Saturday, I took a fairly deep dive into Mother Jones' decade-plus coverage of mass shootings, what we've learned, and why it's so important that we don't fall into the trap of believing nothing can be done to prevent them. I also asked you and your fellow readers to [support our team's journalism with a donation]( as we enter budget crunch time and stare down our urgent June 30 deadline. Not that many people did. But I refuse to believe the Mother Jones community isn't committed to bringing facts and solutions to bear on the epidemic of extremism, gun violence, and mass shootings. So, I wanted to try again today: My note from the weekend is below, but we're all busy and inundated with information, so here's the shortest version I can muster: Our team's journalism is [a go-to source]( of facts on gun violence—and on the surprisingly effective solutions that not enough people are talking about. It's [reaching]( more among the majority of Americans who demand solutions than it ever has right now (including people who don't follow our work like you do). And [support from readers]( is the [reason]( we've been able to dig deep and do reporting that has been ahead of the curve on this essential beat, with the independence to call a spade a spade—including calling undemocratic rule by an extremist minority [what it is](. [I hope a lot more of you will pitch in to support that work today](, and all our hard-hitting journalism on so many of the pressing issues we face, than did over the weekend. As concerned as I am about bringing in the $285,000 we need to make our budget by June 30, which is a lot, I would be even more concerned if a sizable portion of the MoJo community just didn’t think anything could be done to rein in gun violence. Our journalism obviously won't solve the issue on its own, but at a moment like this, our team's work is making a difference: [Your support]( will help show those who are hungry for change what can be done, and it will help expose the so-called leaders who distort the debate for their own gain. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. If you have any thoughts about our coverage of gun violence or the issue in general, you can [share them with me here](. I hope you will. —Monika [Donate](   MoJo Reader, These are the things you can count on like clockwork after each of the mass murders that have become a grimly familiar American trope: The National Rifle Association's Twitter account goes silent. The Onion's painfully on-point [satire](, "'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens," makes the rounds again. And there's a chorus of outrage against "politicizing the tragedy." Let's set aside for a moment the question of exactly how soon after a mass shooting it is okay to talk about the "shooting" part. Here's when we definitely should be talking about gun violence: all of the rest of the time. I was kind of horrified when a colleague reminded me that [I wrote]( these words four and a half years ago, after a gunman opened fire at a music festival in Las Vegas. Is even taking note of how routine this has become now…routine? No. Nothing about the lives or deaths of those 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde was routine. Nothing about the 10 in Buffalo, or the four in Tulsa, or the countless others shot at graduations, concerts, in their homes, and seemingly everywhere just in the last couple of weeks. Nothing routine about the pain and grief their families and all of us are feeling. And we can't start treating it as routine. That's paralyzing in and of itself. So, I want to dive fairly deep into Mother Jones' decade-plus experience covering mass shootings, and what we've learned that can break through the paralysis, as I ask you to [pitch in and support this work if you can right now](. We're entering budget crunch time and need to bring in $300,000 in donations from our online readers by June 30 when our fiscal year ends. It's going to come down to the wire. I'll start with the pervasive claim that nothing can be done to stop mass shootings. That's exactly what shooters would want us to believe, as Mark Follman [lays out](: "They want notoriety, and they seek justification and credibility for their acts of violence. And in the message that America will never stop these mass shootings, they find such affirmation." We simply cannot accept the notion that nothing can be done, and we have to remember that change often happens when we least expect it. In fact, huge majorities of Americans favor gun reform—you may have heard that 90 percent want universal background checks, but did you know that [nearly two-thirds]( (including 37 percent of Republicans) favor an assault-weapons ban, and only 20 percent (and just 35 percent of Republicans) support letting people carry a concealed handgun without a permit? Nonetheless, 21 states allow this, and the Supreme Court may soon make it legal everywhere. In other words: An extremist minority is imposing its will on a majority that wants change—and there should be a lot more attention to that fact. The story of gun reform is a democracy story, and that's what we're bringing attention to at Mother Jones—and it's only because of support from our community of readers that we can dig deep and call it like it is. [Please help us keep throwing everything we can at this critical issue with a donation if you can right now](. Ten years ago, when we began tracking mass shootings in [a first-of-its-kind database](, no one knew whether these tragedies were becoming more frequent, or what spurred them. Today, much more is known, and national affairs editor Mark Follman, who has been spearheading this reporting at MoJo for that entire decade, is a go-to expert on the issue. Mark has investigated [the enormous cost of gun violence](, and he [wrote early]( about the [overlap]( between extremism and violence. But he has also reported on the many possible solutions—not just in terms of more sensible gun policy, but also through the emerging field of "[threat assessment](," where psychologists, social workers, educators, and law enforcement work together to divert troubling behavior. His book on this remarkable field of work came out last month. Over the last few weeks you could hardly turn on your radio or TV without hearing Mark's research mentioned. He and other MoJo journalists have been appearing on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, and many other news outlets, [sharing context and facts and debunking persistent myths]( that too often have gone unchallenged. That's change. Our team's reporting is reaching millions of people who want to know about solutions, and it really matters right now. But don't just take my word for it. In response to Mark's piece "[The Epidemic of Mass Shootings Is Neither Inevitable Nor Unsolvable](," Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan [tweeted]( that Mark "is very much worth heeding on mass shootings." Tom Junod, a senior writer at ESPN (I've never quoted both the Onion and ESPN in an email about our work before!) [called his work](: "A strong piece by a reporter and writer who has actually devoted himself to doing the work. There is a large body of research and factual information about mass shooters, yet rarely does any of it find its way into political and media narratives." That's because going deep on gun violence is not incentivized by the traditional ways to pay for reporting. It doesn't go viral, and even if it did, advertisers prefer not to appear next to stories they deem "controversial." Same with risk averse investors, who look for news to make a profit, not a difference. The opposite is true at Mother Jones: [Donations from readers]( give us the independence to call it like we see it without fear, favor, or [false equivalence](. Which brings me to a fiery essay from MoJo Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery. She only takes the time to write when she is [very]( [angry](, and last week, she was. In "[He Did Not Act Alone](," Clara runs through a "wholly incomplete list of those who bear direct responsibility in this slaughter of 19 children and two teachers"—from Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, and Kyrsten Sinema, to "everybody who is tossing their hands up and declaring that nothing will ever change." "Yes, the anti-majoritarian Senate and state legislatures are pushing the ideas of an extreme minority onto the rest of us, on this subject and so many others," she writes. "Yes, there are millions of guns out there already. That only means we have to fight harder, and for longer. But change can come if we are willing to put in the work." The next day, Clara was invited on CNN to [talk about how the media can improve their coverage of guns.]( It's starting to break through. I'm grateful to Clara, Mark, and everyone who is showing up for this work. It's not easy, springing into action each and every time a tragic shooting happens, as MoJo's disinformation reporter, Ali Breland, [noted powerfully](: "I don't even know how to write about these things anymore. I am paid to write about disinformation and extremism—things related to the culture wars, moral panics, and shootings motivated by the far right. But lately, I've started to feel like I'm rewriting versions of the same story: repeating the same plotline over and over again as the issues I'm covering actually seem to be moving backward." But like everyone else here, he's keeping his shoulder to the wheel, because as far-right ideas are mainstreamed into the Republican Party, they bring with them extremist positions on guns and a legitimization of using violence to political ends. The gunman in Buffalo was "bored" during the pandemic and went down rabbit holes of far-right propaganda about the "[Great Replacement](." The shooter in Uvalde bought his gun at an online retailer that [advertises heavily on social media](, tapping into themes of religion, liberty, and Star Wars. There's a lot more reporting to be done on this world. Likewise, our education and criminal justice reporters have long been digging into the role of [school police departments](. We're seeing a lot more debate about that, and it's important to bring context and facts—and information on what other tools exist to keep kids and teachers safe—to that discussion. So back to where I started this email: It's not true that nothing can be done to rein in these all-too-common tragedies, and it's not true that Americans won't support change. Ultimately, this story is about democracy, and about creating a world where an extremist minority can't wield disproportionate power. That's only possible if people who care don't give up. And I promise you Mother Jones won't. Those who are lying or taking the easy way out to maintain the status quo deserve to be exposed. Those who are working to find solutions deserve to be seen. And all of us deserve to know who is manipulating and distorting the debate. If you can right now, [I sincerely hope you'll consider supporting our work with a donation today](. That $300,000 we need to bring in by the end of the month is a lot of money in not a lot of time, and with all the important reporting we have to do, we cannot afford to come up short. Not right now when people are demanding change, and no-nonsense, research-based reporting can help bring it about. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. [Monika] Monika Bauerlein, CEO Mother Jones [Donate]( P.S. If you recently made a donation, thank you! And please accept our apologies for sending you this reminder—our systems take a little while to catch up. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755