Subject: FW: Scripts for the NRA Call
From: "Jefferson, Deshundra" <[email-masked]>
To: RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 15:28:37 -0700

Ready for research!

From: Walker, Eric
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 6:13 PM
To: Jefferson, Deshundra; Walsh, Tom; Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis
Cc: Helmstetter, TJ
Subject: RE: Scripts for the NRA Call

One add to Aguilar and I'm good.

From: Jefferson, Deshundra
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 6:07 PM
To: Walker, Eric; Walsh, Tom; Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis
Cc: Helmstetter, TJ
Subject: Fwd: Scripts for the NRA Call

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:
From: "Jefferson, Deshundra" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Date: May 19, 2016 at 5:33:00 PM EDT
To: "Helmstetter, TJ" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Subject: RE: Scripts for the NRA Call
Do you want to take a look or should I submit these to the approval chain?

From: Jefferson, Deshundra
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 5:02 PM
To: Helmstetter, TJ
Subject: Scripts for the NRA Call
Importance: High

What is the speaking order? I would like to create a briefing report like I did for my rights restoration call last week; a copy is attached.

Rep. Pete Aguilar

Thank you for joining this call today. This issue is very personal to me given that San Bernardino, California is a part of my district. I left the House floor after the first votes that after the December 2, 2015, shooting to return to the district. No one ever thinks something like that will happen so close to home. Yet it did.

We have held so many moments of silence for those lost to gun violence. We have prayed for their families, and we have vowed to take steps so that this would never happen again. Our words are empty if our actions don't back them up.

No single reform could have stopped the tragedy that unfolded in San Bernardino, but that's not an excuse to ignore the need for a national discussion around gun safety.

The National Rifle Association is the most powerful gun lobby in the nation, and they have tried to shut down any attempts at sensible gun safety measures, even though a majority of their members think it's time to have reforms like universal background checks for all gun purchases. Despite the recent spate of mass shootings and terror fears, the NRA and their Republican friends in Congress even opposed a measure to bar suspected terrorists from buying guns.

Not too long ago, Donald Trump criticized Republican officials who "walk the NRA line and refuse even limited restrictions." Today, he's singing the praises of the Second Amendment as "a bedrock natural right." Trump's also pushed the real estate industry, as a group, to hire NRA lobbyists even though he claimed many of the NRA's positions were indefensible.

I don't know how officials at the NRA or the Republican Party sleep at night, knowing that we can and should do more to protect our communities. There's an emptiness to our unanswered prayers for change when we don't take steps to work for the type of change that we want. I don't want to hold another moment of silence - I want Congress to toward a sensible solution and I want the Republican Party to realize that they answer to the American public, not the NRA.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty

Hi everyone, thank you for joining us on the call and thank you to the other speakers for your attention to this issue.

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut is in my district. I am sickened and horrified that in the three-and-a-half years since those shootings, nothing has been done on gun reform. I lay the blame on the NRA and the Members of Congress who are beholden to them.

Despite the fact that 90 percent of Americans supported action on gun reform after Newtown tragedy, the NRA and their allies worked to defeat the bill by spreading rumors and falsehoods. Meanwhile, news of shootings across the country dominate the headlines.

Both of our Democratic presidential candidates have proposed solutions to address this crisis, and President Obama's executive actions earlier this year addresses this crisis with expanding background checks, better enforcing laws already on the books, increasing mental health treatment, and funding research for gun safety technology.

Meanwhile the NRA is advocating for further deregulation of firearms, and they have found a willing audience in the Republican Party.

We've seen this play out over and over again over the years. With the help of the Republican Party, the NRA defeated a bill to extend a ban on assault weapons, blocked a bill that would have extended background checks to guns shows, and passed dangerous "stand your ground" laws in 23 states, including Kentucky.

The NRA and their legislative allies are making our country less safe. It is unconscionable that Donald Trump and top Republican leaders like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell continue to indulge this radical organization.

The NRA and its extreme, uncompromising leadership have blocked reasonable reforms to reduce gun violence. As a vice chair of the U.S. House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I am a strong advocate for commonsense gun reforms in Congress. We cannot allow the NRA to control the White House come November, and we need to block their influence in Congress.

I am urging the media on this call and voters to hold these people accountable. We can't cross our fingers and hope against hope for an end to gun violence. We need to make it happen.

[SigDems]<http://www.democrats.org/>Deshundra Jefferson, Southern Regional Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]> | (202) 863-8112