Everytown and Human Rights Campaign Release New Video – Available Here – Calling on Political Leaders to Do More to Keep Guns Out of Dangerous Hands and #DisarmHate
Earlier This Week, Everytown Released New Fact Sheet on Gun Violence and Hate Crimes Highlighting that 8,000 Hate Crimes Involving a Gun Are Committed In U.S. Each Year
NEW YORK – In a week that once again saw gun violence that made national headlines, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown, marked the near conclusion of #DisarmHate Week in which the organizations, along with a broad-based coalition of partner organizations, participated in actions to honor victims of hate-fueled gun violence in America and to demand that political leaders do more to prevent the approximately 8,000 hate crimes committed with guns that occur every year in America. #DisarmHate Week – from June 12 to 18 – includes the days marking one year since the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando (June 12) and two years since the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston (June 17), both events where marginalized communities were targeted by hate-driven gun violence.
Everytown also today released, in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, a new video (available here) calling on Americans to join the movement to demand that political leaders do more to #DisarmHate. The video features Lucy McBath, mother of slain teen Jordan Davis and faith and outreach leader for Everytown and Moms Demand Action, and the Human Rights Campaign’s national press secretary Sarah McBride, along with other employees of Everytown for Gun Safety and the Human Rights Campaign.
“This week reminds us that when hate comes with a gun, it’s deadly,” said Lucy McBath, faith and outreach leader for Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Gun violence continues to threaten the lives of all Americans whether we’re from the LGBTQ community, a long-time member of a historic African-American church or a national Congressional representative. Since a hate-fueled gunman killed my son Jordan, I have dedicated my life to ending gun violence, and I am determined to keep my promise. Together, we can change the course of our country and ensure that it is one where all Americans are safe regardless of who they are and what they believe. It’s time to disarm hate.”
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said, “The safety of LGBTQ people — and others disproportionately targeted by hate — requires the adoption of common-sense gun safety measures, including limiting access to assault-style rifles, expanding background checks, and limiting the ability for suspected terrorists, and those with a history of domestic abuse to access guns. The urgency to combat hate and violence in all its forms was made tragically clear yet again this week, after our nation was rocked by several major shootings on Wednesday, including one that injured a Republican Member of Congress, U.S. Capitol Police officers and others. Now as always, we must stand united in support of justice and equality, and show the world that we are stronger than hate and fear.”
“Armed hatred threatens the American way of life,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety. “None of us should feel afraid to go to work, go to church, or go out dancing. Our most basic freedoms are at stake — it’s past time for more of our political leaders to join our effort to disarm hate and save lives.”
Earlier this week, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America announced that they would be partnering with a diverse coalition of national organizations for #DisarmHate Week from June 12-18 to mark one year since the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando (June 12) and two years since the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston (June 17), and to demand that political leaders do more to prevent the approximately 8,000 hate crimes committed with guns that occur every year.
The coalition includes a wide range of gun violence, LGBTQ, domestic violence, civil rights and faith-based organizations dedicated to saving lives. The partners, in alphabetical order, include:
Alliance for Gun Responsibility
Americans for Responsible Solutions
Black Church Center
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
CeaseFirePA
Center for American Progress
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Community Justice Reform Coalition
Connecticut Against Gun Violence
Equality Federation
Equality Florida
Gays Against Guns
Generation Progress
Human Rights Campaign
Latino Victory Project
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Louisiana Violence Reduction Coalition
LPAC
Matthew Shepard Foundation
National Council of Jewish Women
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Organization for Women
National Women’s Law Center
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
Newton Action Alliance
Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence
One Pulse for America
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Pride Fund to End Gun Violence
Safe Campus Colorado
Sandy Hook Promise
States United to Prevent Gun Violence
Stop Handgun Violence
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus
The Faith Community of Saint Sabina, Chicago
Ultraviolet
Violence Policy Center
Women Against Gun Violence
Women’s March
Earlier this week, Everytown also released a fact sheet highlighting that, in the U.S. each year, 8,000 hate crimes are committed with a gun – more than 20 every day – and reports indicate that cities across the country have experienced a significant increase in hate-fueled attacks since the November 2016 election. The fact sheet also revealed that:
- More than half of reported hate crimes were driven by racism, with approximately a quarter of all hate crimes motivated by bias against African-Americans;
- More than twenty percent of hate crimes were motivated by bias against a religion, most often anti-Semitism or anti-Islamic prejudices; and
- Nearly one-fifth were driven by prejudice against someone’s sexual orientation and gender identity.
Other notable highlights from #DisarmHate Week include:
- More than 19 national organizations joined Everytown and Moms Demand Action in signing an open letter calling on all Americans to join efforts to end hate crimes in the United States.
- Notable non-profit organizations including the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, Women’s March, Generation Progress, Sandy Hook Promise and more used the #DisarmHate hashtag to participate in the campaign.
- Tens of thousands of Americans pledged to call on their lawmakers to support Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Cicilline’s Disarm Hate Act, which would prohibit people convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from possessing or purchasing guns.
- Congresswoman Val Demings and Susan Lord Disney and Tim Disney of the Walt Disney family penned powerful essays reflecting on the Orlando tragedy, and offering solutions everyday citizens and our lawmakers can enact to prevent another mass shooting from taking place in the future.
- Family members of hate crime victims, Rev. Sharon Risher – whose mother, Ethel Lance, and two cousins, Susie Jackson and Tywanza Sanders, were killed in Charleston – and Lucy McBath – whose son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida on November 23, 2012, during an argument over loud music – appeared on the Roland Martin show “NewsOneNow” on TV One to discuss the upcoming two-year mark since the Charleston tragedy and how our nation’s gun laws contribute to hate crimes.
- Volunteers with the Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee chapters of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will be attending pride events in their cities to show support for their local LGBTQ communities.