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Yesterday, I was honored to join Vice President Biden and about a dozen faith leaders for a productive conversation about the Administration's efforts to reduce gun violence. As I walked out of the White House, I thought about the all the work you and the other signers of the Zichronam Livracha petition have done to keep this issue on the forefront of the national legislative agenda. The closed door meeting was an important indication that the White House is committed to the passage of comprehensive gun reform – but they need partners to help with this heavy lift.
Over the course of the meeting, we shared ideas about how to proceed. Senator Harry Reid can bring this legislation up again any time during this Congress and we must help build the constituency for practical solutions. We have seen signs across the United States that Americans were disappointed with the Senate's inability to adopt the sensible and modest Manchin-Toomey background checks amendments. Just in our campaign alone, thousands of people have written to their Senators to express their thoughts. We must continue, build on our successes, and raise the visibility of this issue in the House of Representatives: which, so far, has done little.
Representatives Peter King (NY-R) and Mike Thompson (CA-D) have introduced a bi-partisan bill, H.R. 1565, "Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013". This bill parallels the efforts in the Senate and would expand the background check system to cover all commercial firearm sales. 90% of Americans support universal background checks and we should expect our legislators to represent that incredible national consensus. Please contact your Representative and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 1565.
As always, check our Facebook page and twitter for the latest updates and encourage your friends to connect with us on social media.
That's all for now,
Jared
