FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brian Fadie (brian@progressnownevada.org)
January 14, 2013
ProgressNow Nevada Calls on Legislators to Abstain From NRA Lobbyist Event
Comes On One-Month Anniversary of Newtown Gun Massacre
LAS VEGAS - On the one-month anniversary of the Newtown shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in elementary school classrooms, ProgressNow Nevada Executive Director Brian Fadie called on Nevada lawmakers to not attend an NRA lobbyist sponsored event to be held on January 19 in Las Vegas.
In a letter to lawmakers Fadie noted that of the $16,554,803 the NRA Political Victory Fund spent on the 2012 election only 0.81% of these expenditures benefitted a winning candidate. He also noted a comprehensive study of all 1038 NRA endorsements in the 2004-2010 election cycles found the NRA's endorsement swung the result in just four races.
"Americans want elected officials who have the courage and independence to stand up to the gun lobby," said Fadie. "That kind of leadership is what we need to fix our broken gun laws and reduce the daily toll of gun violence in our country."
"Bad guys can keep getting guns when the NRA lobbyists have rewritten our laws with so many loopholes. The gun lobby weakens our gun laws, flooding the illegal market with firearms and mass ammo clips -- then complains that too many dangerous people have guns," said Fadie.
The Newtown shooter was armed with enough ammo to kill every student at the school. He used an AR-15 military-style assault rifle to kill the children -- a weapon that could be covered by a strong new assault weapons ban.
"Our leaders should act now to make it harder for dangerous people to buy guns and easier for police to stop them," said Fadie. "A common sense public safety agenda includes legislation that will get military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines off our streets."
For more information: Brian Fadie 702-900-3665 or brian@progressnownevada.org
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