Friend,

Like all of you, we have been struggling to comprehend the daily toll of gun violence in our country. From suicide and domestic violence to mass shootings and urban gun violence, we want to take the time to remember and honor the victims and survivors, but we also want action. We want to take action ourselves and we need to see those in positions of power taking action. We all hope this time will be different. We need Congress to take action, and we need local leaders to act in order to prevent gun violence in Maryland and beyond.

We can make a difference, and we must come together and make sure that our leaders take decisive action.

One immediate step we can take here in Maryland is to strengthen our Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws and keep guns out of the hands of our children. Advocates have been trying to pass this legislation for four years, and we can’t wait any longer.

We need your help to hold our leaders accountable and make sure they act on child access prevention as soon as possible. Here’s how:

• Email your MD legislators and ask them to sign on to the pledge we’ve created with Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence to make Maryland’s child access prevention laws stronger ASAP. Here’s the link to the pledge, and here’s where you can find contact info for your legislators.

• Use our social media templates to tag your legislators and respond to their posts about gun violence prevention, and ask them to sign the pledge. Here’s the link to the pledge, and we’ve included a sample tweet below. Find more sample posts here. 
  • Sample Tweet: Hi @ TWITTER HANDLE. Every day in the US, 8 children/teens are unintentionally shot with an improperly stored or misused gun found in the home. Will you sign on to our pledge to make Maryland’s child access prevention laws stronger ASAP? https://bit.ly/MDCAPlaw

• Sign the pledge yourself! We’re asking legislators, candidates, organizations, and individuals to sign on. Together we can make our kids, families, and communities safer with better CAP laws. Sign on to the pledge here.

This Saturday, June 11, you can join gun violence prevention advocates and March for Our Lives to demand action from our leaders at all levels. The biggest gathering will be in Washington, DC, but there will be smaller marches all across the country as well. Find more information here.

Finally, one thing that has helped us immensely over the last few weeks is reading powerful pieces from fellow Marylanders. Addressing gun violence means much more than criminal penalties. We need common sense gun laws, but we also need to look at the root causes of gun violence, learn how to better support our communities, help those in crisis, and address police misconduct. Here are some thoughtful pieces:

• Who has to get shot in America before we do something about guns? D. Watkins
• Hogan’s Flawed Approach to Public Safety Dayvon Love
• Baltimore gun violence: Easy to find, complicated to fix Baltimore Sun Editorial Board

Paid for by Strong Future Maryland

Strong Future Maryland
P.O. Box 164
Arnold, MD 21012
United States

Strong Future Maryland is working to help Maryland recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis, the related economic downturn, and the centuries-old crisis of systemic racism in an equitable and sustainable way.

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