We have all been affected by the recent rash (and unfortunate long line) of school shootings. Though there are many factors at play and many political horses in the race, there must be some common ground. There must be some immediate action that can be taken, even in the face of the completely irrational and socially tone-deaf stance of the NRA (and the GOP by-proxy) on all things related to reasonable gun control. This may be one of the few small things that can be accomplished and that even the NRA may be able to help with. In the wake of the horrifying events at Sandy-Hook Elementary there has been much discussion and government resources directed at what can be done to prevent or at least mitigate such terrible things from happening in the future. It seems that even the most minor suggestions in policy change or ideas that seem completely reasonable and logical to stem the casualty rates from such acts are met with opposition by some interest group or another. But here is a cheap idea that cannot possibly be met with any reasonable opposition: President Obama, and any other public official of substantial national profile on either side of the political spectrum should start a media campaign calling on all Americans who own guns to immediately secure those guns in a safe and responsible manner. Their children should have no access to the guns nor should any other person who isn't supposed to. Many of the mass shootings that have happened have only been possible because the guns inside the shooter's home were not properly secured and the shooter had unfettered access to them. It can be a simplified message. "America, lock up your guns". It may also be helpful to look into legislative action that may help make this happen such as tax credits for gun safes or credits for gun locks. In my opinion the NRA could help greatly via their large membership and influence in this sector of private life. It may help them rebuild a tarnished image and seem somewhat reasonable again. In short, this should be a presidential address to the nation and a television and internet based-commercial campaign. "America, lock up your guns"

Biometric Safeties can prevent anyone except the legal owner from using the weapon which would eliminate the majority of shootings in the US per the FBI statistics. According to FBI statistics, most shootings in America, whether accidental, suicide, or criminal, occur with legally owned weapons used by someone other than the legal owner. This includes both handguns and assault weapons. Also, most illegal weapons are first purchased legally and then resold illegally, called straw purchases.

This is to urge congress & Governor Branstad to legalize & decriminalize marijuana in the state of Iowa! There are SO MANY benefits to this, including freeing up prison space & also revenue generated by taxing!! OVER half of the country support this issue!

"They raped her... They raped her quicker than Mike Tyson raped that one girl... she is so raped." That's what one local man said on camera about the now-infamous gang rape of a teenage girl by members of the Steubenville, Ohio high school football team last August. The girl was carried, unconscious, to different parties and raped at multiple locations throughout the night. And the dozens of teens who were there didn't try to stop them, get help or call the police--instead they took photos and posted jokes about the attack on Twitter. Police have been dragging their feet for months, but under Ohio law, failing to report a felony is a crime. And based on his 12-minute video, the man not only knew about the rape, but witnessed it. It's outrageous that local authorities are sweeping this under the rug--but it's not too late for the special prosecutors to charge him and others involved. Can you sign our petition that demands that DeWine prosecute anyone who knowingly failed to report the crime?

People should start thinking about the consequences of free guns in everybody's hands

This will be a petition in favor and support of a ban against all private ownerships of all military type assault guns firearms in america-usa.

OK, hunters and others who like guns, at least let's curb the unnecessary assault weapons from public use in order to protect our children.

10 years ago my 21 year old son became a homicide victim in a still unsolved murder case. He was shot on the spot after witnessing a hold up. Our innocent children are losing their lives at each others hands.

While African Americans only make up12% of the U.S. population, they are imprisoned more than any race in America! Why? Because of racist views and racial profiling of law enforcement which must end now!

semi automatic weapons, large magazines

We want our children to be safer, please help pass common sense laws for mandadatory background checks for any and all persons who purchase or trade guns.

On January 11, 2013, facing decades in prison on trumped up charges, my partner, Aaron Swartz, made the tragic choice to take his own life. He was only 26. Aaron's supposed crime? He was accused of checking out too many articles (4.8 million), too fast, from an online academic library called JTSOR, to which he had authorized access. He never used or distributed the articles and later returned them. For that, he faced 35 years behind bars and endured two years of relentless persecution. The outdated Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) made this tragedy possible by giving absurdly broad powers to corporations and prosecutors to criminalize an array of online activity. That includes breaching a website's terms of service--that long fine print you "agree to" but never read. All of us who knew and loved Aaron never want to see anyone suffer this kind of abuse of power again. So, we're urgently calling on Congress to reform the CFAA. Aaron was an innovator, entrepreneur, and social justice advocate who co-authored RSS 1.0 (the web's format for sharing and distributing content) at the age of 14, co-founded the social news website Reddit, and led the fight to stop SOPA and PIPA--the internet censorship bills. His fight to stop SOPA and PIPA started with a petition just like this one, so we know this can work. In fact, there's already been a strong, bipartisan reaction to Aaron's death and legislation is in the works to reform the CFAA right now. But it won't happen without a big public push. We can't get Aaron back, but can you help us honor his memory by signing this petition and sharing it with everyone you know? Thank you for listening. --Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman