Re: "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15."

When Republican Senator John Cornyn, whom Mitch McConnell tasked as the lead negotiator for any proposed gun legislation, was asked last week if there was a chance that the Senate would finally pass gun safety laws, his response was clear: "not gonna happen." Dear MoveOn member, When Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, whom Mitch McConnell tasked as the lead negotiator for any proposed gun legislation, was asked last week if there was a chance that the Senate would finally pass gun safety laws, his response was clear: "not gonna happen."1 You read that right. A senator from the state where an 18-year-old was able to easily purchase two assault rifles, body armor, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and days later use them to slaughter 19 elementary school children and two teachers has refused to even consider any law that might keep weapons of war out of our communities. This is the ugly truth of the GOP. They will never, ever put the lives of children, elders, or anyone in between ahead of their cultish obsession with guns. And it's time that we make them pay for it at the ballot box. We can make this year's midterm elections a referendum on the GOP's abject refusal to protect our communities and our rights—and show them once and for all that we will not accept their cruelty as a part of our politics. MoveOn is investing $30 million in the largest midterm election campaign in our history to do just that, but we need your help to make it a success. Will you chip in $5 a month to power and sustain our campaign from now until Election Day? [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Want more details about what MoveOn has invested in this year? Here are just a few pieces of the plan: - Running a massive, innovative voter contact program. In 2020, MoveOn ran data-backed experiments to find the most effective way to turn out the specific voters we need to win, and we found a tactic that proved to be five times as effective as traditional phone banks or canvassing. We've spent months developing new ways to make this program even more effective, and we'll begin deploying it in battleground states and districts this summer. - Training thousands of volunteers to organize in their communities. MoveOn hosted the Progressive Power Training Series to give members across the country the resources they need to organize volunteer shifts, run text banks, energize their communities, and ensure every voter who can vote makes it to the ballot box this fall. - Investing millions to support pro-democracy candidates. One of the ways Republicans have stacked the deck to be able to strip away our rights and stop meaningful reform is through the passage of racist voter suppression laws. MoveOn is dedicated to supporting state candidates for governor and secretary of state who will defend our right to vote and stop these authoritarian moves by the GOP. - Continuing to push Congress to pass progressive legislation. While we organize to win in November, we are also keeping the pressure high on Congress to pass gun control legislation, including a new assault weapons ban, and will be heavily investing in ads to voters in the districts of the members of the GOP who block this legislation from passing in order to remind them to vote them out this fall. Even though MoveOn has millions of members like you, {NAME}, our staff is small, and finding the resources to keep these programs running is difficult without your support. Will you chip in $5 a month to grow and sustain these programs? [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Following the deadly racist massacre that left 23 people dead in El Paso, Texas in 2019, Beto O'Rourke made his stance on addressing mass shootings clear. When asked if he supported a mandatory buyback of all assault rifles, he said, "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15."2 That weapon, designed specifically for use by the military on the battlefield, was used in Buffalo, Uvalde, Parkland, Las Vegas, Pulse, Sandy Hook, Sutherland Springs, and many other mass shootings over the last decade.3 It has no place on our streets. We need leaders like Beto to replace gun-crazed Greg Abbott in Texas. We need leaders like Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes to replace Ron Johnson, a staunch opponent of commonsense gun laws, in the Senate. And we need to expand Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate to ensure that we can pass laws to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation. In less than five months, we can win this fight. We cannot let this opportunity slip through our fingers. Not again. Will you chip in $5 a month? [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Thanks for all you do. –Justin, Madeleine, Allison, Jaira, and the rest of the team Sources: 1. "Sen. Chris Murphy 'more confident than ever' Congress can reach deal on gun laws but anxious about failure," CNN, June 5, 2022 [ 2. "Beto O’Rourke: 'Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15,'" ABC7NY, September 12, 2019 [ 3. "Where AR-15-style rifles fit in America's tragic history of mass shootings," NPR, May 26, 2022 [ POL. ADV. PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, [ Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump and his allies are methodically enacting a plan to place some of Trump's most ardent supporters in key election offices that oversee vote counting, have the power to certify—or decertify—election results, and declare election winners and losers. We've launched a powerful, multimillion-dollar campaign to stop Trump. But we need your help to power our effort. Will you chip in monthly to power our campaign to defeat Trump and the GOP in 2022? [Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, . Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to {NAME} on June 12, 2022. To change your email address or update your contact info, [click here](. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, [click here](. To remove yourself from this list, [click here](.