Last night, the Senate failed to take action to expand background checks for firearms sales or to close the terror gap. In fact, all four proposals being considered failed to gain the needed 60 votes to advance to a floor vote. This was disappointing — infuriating even — but not terribly surprising. Our elected officials have repeatedly failed to take action they know and we know would make us safer.
In the wake of that vote, we cannot let our frustration turn into complacency. Just before the vote, we met with both Senators, and we had a long conversation with Senator Casey about how to move forward after the vote. You can watch that here. His message is to keep working.
Look at what we together accomplished in the days leading up to that vote:
More than 500 emails to members of Congress, thousands of calls and emails to Senators Toomey and Casey, dozens of op-eds and letter to the editor published, and new supporters coming out and taking action for the first time.
We are making our voices heard, and we cannot let up. Congress is about to go on vacation — having yet again failed to take simple action to make our communities safer. We don’t have that luxury.
We’re not taking a day off.
