Lori Haas, a representative of the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, urged a crowd of about 80 people at the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse Feb. 24, to dial up pressure on their elected representatives to address gun violence in our country with significant reforms that include universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, limits on the size of magazines and strong penalties for gun trafficking.
“We have immense momentum on this issue, immense momentum,” Ms. Haas said. “Do we need more? Absolutely!”
She urged citizens to call the offices of their state and national representatives, but not just once.
“Make the call over and over and over again,” she said. “If they hear from you 30 times, that’s OK.”
“Call every single day or two times a day or five or 10, as many times as you can. It will have an impact. I promise it matters. I promise it will help.”
Even though the polls show that 92 percent of Americans support background checks for gun purchases, legislators hear more often from the highly vocal members of the National Rifle Association and its highly funded lobbyists, she said.
“We can and we have regulated fully automatic machine guns in this country. It’s illegal to own them. So we’ve done it with one piece of hardware, I think we can do it with another,” Ms. Haas said.
But a ban on assault weapons is not enough, she said. “We want the full package … because we believe that will have the greatest effect on the gun violence that is just ripping our country apart.”
Ms. Haas, whose daughter Emily was wounded in the deadly attack at Virginia Tech in 2007, said the NRA wants to feed a climate of fear to boost the sales of guns and ammunition. In order to accomplish their goals, they are taking advantage of a “resurrectionist mentality” among some people. “These are people who think that the Second Amendment says it’s OK to overthrow your own government or to arm youselves so the government can’t tell you what to do,” she said.
Ms. Haas said it has been proven that strong gun laws work. She cited a difference of 3.6 gun deaths per 100,000 population in states with strong laws, compared to 10.85 in Alaska, the state with the weakest laws.
Ms. Haas said she will keep the club informed of progress as the effort to control gun violence goes forward.