Enough is enough: What you can do to help stop American gun violence

Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and other recent incidents of gun violence highlight the fact that the U.S. has been locked in a cycle of apathetic “thoughts and prayers,” while little federal action has been taken on this public safety and public health issue. We must end the helpless, apathetic cycle of “thoughts and prayers.” Enough is enough. To stand idly by and do nothing in the face of such senseless slaughter is unconscionable and antithetical to our Jewish values and beliefs. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will pray with our marching feet and voices.

We are working with our partners in the gun violence prevention space to organize and advocate for change. Here’s how you can get involved:

On June 8 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Everytown will host an Interfaith Prayer Vigil and a “Don’t Look Away” Rally in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol.

• The Don’t Look Away Rally will be outside the U.S. Capitol at 11 a.m. Find more information and register now.

On June 11 at 12 p.m., the second March For Our Lives rally will take place at the Washington Monument.

This march and its many satellite marches all over the United States will show Congress that American voters are watching and demanding immediate gun violence prevention reform.

• You can find more information and register at the D.C. March For Our Lives page or find a satellite March For Our Lives event.
• For the D.C. March, the Reform Jewish Movement will have a designated meeting spot. Please register for more information about the Reform Jewish meeting spot.

We need a variety of federal-level legislative remedies on gun safety.

Send a letter to your members of Congress urging them to support a variety of remedies, including an assault weapons ban, federal background checks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) research funding, and more at on the RAC website.

Tell your elected officials to support Ethan’s Law.

In 2020, firearm-related deaths surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death for American children aged 1-19. The CDC noted that “the increasing firearm-related mortality reflects a longer-term trend and shows that we continue to fail to protect our youth from a preventable cause of death.” 4.6 million American children live in homes with at least one gun that is both unlocked and loaded. This easy access to firearms is dangerous and sometimes fatal: in an Everytown analysis of over 2,000 unintentional shootings by children under 18 years old from 2015 to 2020, there were 765 deaths and 1,366 injuries. Ethan’s Law would mandate the safe storage of firearms in residences where minors and/or other unauthorized persons live. Send a letter to your members of Congress.

Urge the Senate to swiftly fill the position of director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The ATF is responsible for enforcing existing laws on the use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives. In 2006, the law was changed to require Senate confirmation for the ATF director position, and since then, only one director has been confirmed by the Senate, leaving the ATF without stable, permanent, Senate-confirmed leadership at a critical and deadly juncture in American history. Lacking a Senate-confirmed leader severely constrains the ATF’s ability to enforce existing federal laws and executive actions, advocate for its needs as an agency, and respond to up-and-coming dangers. Urge your Senators to act immediately and fill the position of ATF director.