Sign Local Gun Control Petition Here

How many more must die? We need true gun control now, and our congressional delegation agrees.

Today’s a great day to re-watch “Bowling for Columbine” and you can do so here. It’s a great day to honor the heroism of our educators – any of whom could one day be put in the same situation that the teachers at Sandy Hook were – and you can do that here.

It’s also a great day to take action. And you can do that here:

Please sign this Petition and Pledge.

Sometime in January we will hold an event at the State House at which we submit this petition and pledge, and demand our elected officials to act.

 Petition and Pledge

Dear Governor Chafee, Speaker Fox and President Paiva-Weed:

We, the undersigned, do call upon the elected officials our state and local governments to enact meaningful gun control legislation. At a minimum, we expect he legislation to include the following:

• No sale of or private ownership of automatic or semi-automatic firearms;
• No sale of or private ownership of ammunition for such guns, nor any form of ammunition that is armor-piercing;
• No sales of firearms without a 30-day waiting period and a background criminal check, including at gun shows or other “private sales”;
• All sales of firearms, weather in a retail or private setting, shall require documentation that is submitted to the appropriate branch of the Rhode Island State Police;
• Permits for firearm ownership will only be granted with demonstration of legitimate need for the item, including hunting or sport;
• In addition to current laws, those with permits for firearm ownership shall be required to reapply every two years for their permit.

Please note: the proposal above is much less restrictive than in most democracies; for one example, the United Kingdom does not allow private ownership of almost any form of firearm, and its gun homicide rate is 1/100^th that of the US (0.03 per 100,000 vs.  nearly 3 per 100,000).

We additionally pledge the following:

• We will refuse to vote for or in any way support the candidacies of any person running for office who does not publicly support and work for the enactment of legislation that accomplishes the above; and
• Will actively seek and support candidates to oppose any elected official who does not publicly support and work for the enactment of legislation that accomplishes the above ; and
• Will disaffiliate with any party whose leadership does not publicly support and work for the enactment of legislation that accomplishes the above; and
• We hereby promise to oppose the candidacies of any person seeking office who accepts the endorsement or financial support of the NRA; its affiliates; similar gun-industry or gun-rights organizations; or who in any way publicly expresses support for the positions and goals of said organizations.

In particular, we look to Governor Lincoln Chafee, Speaker of the House Gordon Fox and Senate President M. Teresa Pavia-Weed to ensure legislation meeting the above criteria is enacted in the 2013 legislative session. If such legislation is not enacted, the moral standing of these three leaders will be forever tarnished and their names held in disdain.

In memory of those who died in Newtown, and all those who have suffered and died from the easy access to guns in our nation, we say enough is enough. We demand that the phrase “well regulated’ be the keystone for our understanding of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.