Newtown Action Alliance

jer67@duke.edu — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 01:12:44 +0000

Description:

Newtown Action Alliance is a national grassroots organization created after the the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Through all-volunteer activism and advocacy, NAA hopes to transform their tragedy into meaningful action to end the gun violence epidemic. NAA pushes for passing common sense gun safety legislation at the local, state, and federal levels.

Goals:

1) Transform the tragic consequences of gun violence into meaningful actions to keep children and families safe in the communities where they live and work.

2) Prevent other communities from being impacted by mass shootings, everyday gun violence, and gun suicides.

3) Reduce the more than 100,000 annual gun deaths and injuries in the United States.

4) Provide a voice to the growing number of families of victims and survivors directly impacted by gun violence.

5) Build bridges between suburban, rural, and urban victims and communities that have been, and continue to be, impacted by gun violence.

6) #OutShoutTheGunLobby by uniting the gun violence prevention movement to create a powerful, influential voice to confront and counter the gun industry’s hold on elected officials..

7) Push for comprehensive gun violence prevention policies and strategies to help to end all forms of gun violence in America.

Historical/Political Context:

Since the United States won independence, violence and guns have been overwhelmingly prevalent in the country’s economic, political, and social arenas. This has created a culture in which politicians and everyday people become complacent to the mass shootings that are now commonplace. There have been more than 1,600 mass shootings since the Sandy Hook shooting, and yet there hasn’t been major federal gun control legislation since 1994. Instead, gun manufacturers and gun owners have gained more rights.

After the Sandy Hook shooting, families and community organizations joined forces to combat gun violence. Connecticut lawmakers made sweeping changes to the state’s gun laws. They implemented a ban on more than 150 gun models and prohibited the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. They required gun or ammunition purchasers to have a permit. They also implemented a state registry of deadly weapon offenders and a universal background check system. In 2016, Connecticut had the lowest number of gun homicides in its recorded history.

NAA advocated for these policy changes and supported local victims and survivors of gun violence. Now, NAA is working to establish comprehensive common sense gun reform across the country.

Structure:

NAA is entirely volunteer-run. It is comprised of eight directors and more than 200 members across the country. Its board of directors oversees decision-making, but relies on community input. The current chair, Po Murray, lives in Newtown, Connecticut, and co-founded NAA.

Genealogy:

NAA was founded by Newtown residents in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14, 2012. In the aftermath of their tragedy, they organized community gatherings where people wrote letters and called representatives to demand change. On the nine-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, they traveled to Washington, D.C., alongside victims and survivors of gun violence from Chicago, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Hartford to urge lawmakers to implement comprehensive, common sense gun law reform. In December 2014, they partnered with faith groups and gun violence prevention organizations to hold a nationwide vigil to remember all victims of gun violence. Since then, NAA has grown to more than 200 members. NAA continues to collaborate with intersectional activists and gun violence prevention organizations to organize actions to empower victims and survivors of gun violence while changing local, state, and federal legislation. On December 6, 2017, before the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, NAA delivered a letter with "23 federal measures that will end all forms of gun violence in America" to every member of Congress. There has not been any federal gun law reform since the Sandy Hook shooting, though some states have elected pro-gun control representatives and severl communities have enacted gun control legislation.

Campaigns:

#NoRA

NAA is an organizing and policy partner for #NoRA, a collective action initiative to counteract the influence of NRA money in the American political system. #NoRA is “part festival, part protest, part art installation.” Its contributors are organizations, intersectional activism leaders, and social media and cultural influencers who aim to inspire new policy and empower survivors of gun violence.

Say No to #WeaponsofWar

NAA is one of 170+ organizations in a coalition called the Campaign Against Assault Weapons. CAAW asks individuals to sign a petition encouraging Donald Trump and Congress to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

#VoteThemOut

NAA pledges to vote out all politicians who take blood money from the NRA. Others can sign the pledge to #VoteThemOut in 2018 and 2020.

#NoNRAMoney

NAA is one of the partners in the campaign to tell lawmakers and candidates that they must reject NRA money or they won’t get elected. Others can pledge not to vote for candidates who accepts NRA money or ask their representatives to #NoNRAMoney candidate pledge.

#GhostVote

NAA urges voters to put common sense gun laws at the top of the agenda in the upcoming elections by casting their ballots in the honor of people who have been silenced by gun violence. Myths & Facts About Guns NAA maintains a page on its website to debunk myths about guns.

Ideological Composition:

NAA advocates for common sense gun laws (listed below). NAA does not align with any political party. Rather, its members believe that gun control should be at the forefront of politicians' and voters' minds in their everyday lives and especially at the polls. Some NAA leaders self-identify as single-issue voters, with a candidate's stance on gun control being the determinant of their support.

Federal Gun Laws to Make America Truly Safe:

1. Background checks on sale of all guns

2. Close the Charleston loophole or “delayed denial” where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without a verdict from the FBI

3. Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person (including dating partners) convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor

4. Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence

5. Fix the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS)

6. Mandatory waiting period for gun purchases

7. Gun violence restraining order/extreme risk protection order to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual’s possession

8. Handgun permitting, licensing, training, and registration

9. Ban bump-fire stocks and other dangerous accessories

10. Ban future manufacture and sale of assault weapons, regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program

11. Limits on high capacity magazines

12. Prohibit open carry

13. Make gun trafficking a federal crime

14. Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to eliminate the corporate gun industry special protection from civil justice law that no other industry enjoys

15. Repeal Dickey Amendment to adequately fund government research on gun violence

16. Child access prevention/safe storage requirement

17. Provide resources for people with mental illness

18. Microstamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun

19. “Smart guns” with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability

20. Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases

21. Require licensing for ammunition dealers

22. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers

23. Digitize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gun records

NAA also supports organizations working in other movements that push for policies that protect families, communities, and the environment. Some of those organizations include faith groups, LGBTQ+ groups, and domestic violence prevention groups.

NAA members participated in the Women's March on Washington.

Communication Strategy:

NAA emphasizes face-to-face communication locally and nationally. Many events bring together community members to contact representatives or rally for a cause. NAA’s annual vigils brings communities across the country together to remember all victims of gun violence. In addition, NAA sponsors trips for victims and survivors of gun violence to travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress for gun law reform.

NAA is active on social media. It has several campaigns through which people can sign petitions or pledges to promote change.

Created New Spaces:

NAA hosts an annual vigil at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill to remember the 100,000+ people who are lost or injured by gun violence each year. Other vigils are hosted by partner organizations across the nation occur during the month of December. The vigils transform churches and community centers into spaces where people who have been affected by gun violence can come together to pray for and remember their loved ones.

Oppositional Forces:

The NAA opposes the National Rifle Association (NRA), the gun lobby, and lawmakers and candidates who accept money from the NRA or don’t support comprehensive, common sense gun law reform.

Social Movements - vigils

Newtown Action Alliance