March For Our Lives is a USA youth driven grassroots movement who on Saturday delivered a wake up call to every elected official that the time has come to support common sense gun laws or face being voted out of power.
By Eileen Fleming
On Saturday more than 800 protests in every American state and on every continent except for Antarctica united the world because of the Valentines Day Massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Jennifer Hudson and the D.C. Choir took us to church with their cover of Bob Dylan’s The Times They are Changin at the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C.
The final speaker at the D.C. rally was Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior Emma González, who held silence for 6 minutes 20 seconds to mark the amount of time it took for the gunman to kill 17 people and injure 15 at her high school. After González named the students who died she stood in silence fighting back tears as did many who witnessed the “dead-air” on CNN. A few minutes into the silence, the crowd began to chant, “Never again!”
The March For Our Lives activists are NOT trying to take away guns from law-abiding homeowners and hunters. They are calling attention to the fact that the sale of new semiautomatic assault weapons had been banned in the United States from 1994 until Congress let the ban expire in 2004.
The March for Our Lives Movement demands Congress:
Pass a law to ban the sale of assault weapons.
Prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines.
Close the loophole in the background check law that allows dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms to buy guns online or at gun shows.
For decades the National Rifle Association has influenced Members of Congress and prevented common-sense gun violence prevention measures.
The following chart from The BradyCampaign denotes NRA contributions to Senators and Congressmen. [Numbers denoting a negative reflect the amount the NRA provided their opponent]
Congressional Leadership
| Member Name | District | Total Amount Since 1989 |
| Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell | R-KY | $1,261,874 |
| Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer | D-NY | -$15,184 |
| Speaker Paul Ryan | R-WI 1 | $61,401 |
| House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi | D-CA 12 | $0 |
| House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy | R-CA 22 | $33,940 |
| Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn | R-TX | $59,635 |
| Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin | D-IL | -$3,470 |
| House Majority Whip Steve Scalise | R-LA 1 | $31,300 |
| House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer | D-MD 5 | $0 |
Senate Judiciary Committee
| Member Name | District | Total Amount Since 1989 |
| Senator Chuck Grassley | R-IA, Committee Chair | $232,337 |
| Senator Orrin G. Hatch | R-UT | $140,748 |
| Senator Lindsey Graham | R-SC | $49,049 |
| Senator John Cornyn | R-TX | $59,635 |
| Senator Michael S. Lee | R-UT | $8,291 |
| Senator Ted Cruz | R-TX | $77,450 |
| Senator Ben Sasse | R-NE | $68,623 |
| Senator Jeff Flake | R-AZ | $365,302 |
| Senator Mike Crapo | R-ID | $59,989 |
| Senator Thom Tillis | R-NC | $4,418,012 |
| Senator John Kennedy | R-LA | $215,788 |
| Senator Dianne Feinstein | D-CA, Committee Ranking Member | $0 |
| Senator Patrick Leahy | D-VT | $7,000 |
| Senator Dick Durbin | D-IL | -$3,470 |
| Senator Sheldon Whitehouse | D-RI | $0 |
| Senator Amy Klobuchar | D-MN | -$140,915 |
| Senator Christopher A. Coons | D-DE | -$34,763 |
| Senator Richard Blumenthal | D-CT | -$64,317 |
| Senator Mazie Hirono | D-HI | -$171 |
| Senator Cory Booker | D-NJ | -$23,641 |
| Senator Kamala Harris | D-CA | $0 |
House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
| Member Name | District | Total Amount Since 1989 |
| Rep. Bob Goodlatte | R-VA 6, Committee Chair | $137,126 |
| Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. | R-WI 5 | $20,468 |
| Rep. Lamar Smith | R-TX 21 | $41,014 |
| Rep. Steve Chabot | R-OH 1 | $114,548 |
| Rep. Darrell Issa | R-CA 49 | $37,636 |
| Rep. Steve King | R-IA 4 | $63,404 |
| Rep. Louie Gohmert | R-TX 1 | $13,386 |
| Rep. Jim Jordan | R-OH 4 | $15,878 |
| Rep. Ted Poe | R-TX 2 | $15,436 |
| Rep. Tom Marino | R-PA 10 | $8,000 |
| Rep. Trey Gowdy | R-SC 4 | $7,150 |
| Rep. Raúl Labrador | R-ID 1 | $14,813 |
| Rep. Blake Farenthold | R-TX 27 | $9,500 |
| Rep. Doug Collins | R-TX 9 | $11,140 |
| Rep. Ron DeSantis | R-FL 6 | $5,000 |
| Rep. Ken Buck | R-CO 4 | $838,315 |
| Rep. John Ratcliffe | R-TX 4 | $4,500 |
| Rep. Martha Roby | R-AL 2 | $6,000 |
| Rep. Matt Gaetz | R-FL 1 | $1,000 |
| Rep. Mike Johnson | R-LA 4 | $7,223 |
| Rep. Andy Biggs | R-AZ 5 | $2,000 |
| Rep. John Rutherford | R-FL 4 | $1,000 |
| Rep. Karen Handel | R-GA 6 | $90,258 |
| Rep. Jerry Nadler | D-NY 10, Committee Ranking Member | $0 |
| Rep. Zoe Lofgren | D-CA 19 | $0 |
| Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee | D-TX 18 | $0 |
| Rep. Steve Cohen | D-TN 9 | $0 |
Of the 10 deadliest shootings over the last decade, seven involved the use of assault weapons of war. These guns have no purpose other than to fire as many bullets as possible with terrifying speed.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
The children of America are leading their families and communities to engage in the democratic process by VOTING out those who do not support the change from a culture of violence to a society where all are free to pursue a life of liberty and happiness.
Be a part of that change HERE
Eileen Fleming, Senior Non-Arab Correspondent for USA’s TADN writes HERE
Eileen Fleming produced the UNCENSORED “30 Minutes with Vanunu” Mordechai, Israel’s nuclear whistleblower
Contact her HERE
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