Senator McConnell: Bring the Senate Back to End Gun Violence

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
601 W. Broadway
Room 630
Louisville, KY 40202

Leader McConnell,

Normally, this is the kind of letter one would expect to send to the Washington office of the Senate Majority Leader. When the American public overwhelmingly demands its government act in response to a deadly crisis, it is expected that the leaders of that government would be at work.

Unfortunately, you seem to prefer hiding in your Kentucky shell while we die by the thousands.

So let’s make this clear to you: it is time for you to do your damn job.

In 2001, when terrorists viciously attacked our nation and killed 2,977 Americans in cold blood our government acted immediately. We went to war halfway around the world. Twice. We changed the way our nation travels. We created a new cabinet level department and redesigned our entire security apparatus. And we gave the government sweeping new powers to prevent slaughter on this level. We spent trillions of dollars and thousands of American military lives as a direct result of these brutal attacks.

In the thirty-one days between today and when the Senate is scheduled to come back into session on September 9th, approximately 3,286 people will die from gunshots in the United States.

That is 309 more than were killed on 9/11. And it happens every single month.

Exactly how many Americans are you willing to let die while you cower on your ranch? Exactly how much blood would push you and your caucus back to Washington? Whatever that deadly number is, we paid it in advance. Over and over again. More than 600,000 deaths since Columbine.

Get to work. Pass clean bills, NOW. Every single victim of the gun violence you enable is on your head.