We Have To Be Better Than This

This piece was originally published in the May 26, 2022 edition of CAP Action’s newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.

“The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are doing nothing … This is on you, until you choose to do something different. This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed, just like they were killed in Uvalde yesterday.” — Former Rep. and Gubernatorial Candidate Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) to Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)

For the second time in as many weeks, an American city has become the axis of unbearable tragedy as we mourn the 19 grade-school students and two teachers killed in Uvalde, Texas. 

This shouldn’t happen. The suspected shooter shouldn’t have been able to purchase a weapon capable of this destruction. But he could and he did, thanks to increasingly lax gun laws in the state. States aren’t islands, and the freedom of movement between them means that this is a national crisis that demands a national solution. 

While MAGA Republicans send empty thoughts and prayers, we’re demanding action. It’s time to put every member of Congress on the record—who will do what it takes to protect our kids? 

Call your senator at the number below, and share this graphic to encourage everyone to do the same and fight for gun safety measures:

In the news

• Firearms became the leading cause of death for children age 1 or older for the first time in 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Firearms overtook motor vehicle accidents during that year, showing clearly the epidemic of violence affecting American kids.
• Gov. Eric Stitt (R-OK) signed the most restrictive abortion ban in the country on Wednesday. The near-total ban effectively ends the availability of the procedure in the state of Oklahoma. While the ban is expected to be challenged, the balance of power on the U.S. Supreme Court and the upcoming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization seems poised to uphold the ban.

What we’re reading

• “Texas school shooting – latest by Holly Bancroft, Namita Singh, Alex Woodward, and Matt Mathers (The Independent)
• “What is the United States ‘gun lobby’ and how powerful is it?” by Joseph Stepansky (Al Jazeera)
• “Warriors’ Steve Kerr delivers impassioned plea for gun control after Texas school shooting: ‘We can’t get numb to this’” by Kendra Andrews (ESPN)
• “Uvalde has prayed for victims elsewhere. Now, mourners here pray for one another.” by Erin Douglas and Jason Beeferman (The Texas Tribune)
• “What It’s Like Here” by Albert Burneko (Defector)
• “A Culture That Kills Its Children Has No Future” by Elizabeth Bruenig (The Atlantic)
• “New poll: 54% of Americans disapprove of Supreme Court following Roe draft opinion leak” by Devan Cole (CNN)
• “Indiana Lawmakers Override Transgender Sports Veto” by Mitch Smith (The New York Times)
• “Childcare Access Is the Difference Between Economic Opportunity and Homelessness”  by Javona Brownlee (Ms. Magazine)

This piece was originally published in the May 26, 2022 edition of CAP Action’s newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.