President Obama went big yesterday with his proposals on gun safety.  With 23 Executive actions and proposed legislation that he’ll send to Congress as soon as tomorrow, he’s stepped up to try to keep Americans safe from people with weapons of war.

There are a few things that we, as concerned citizens, must do:

Read the proposals put out by the White House.  It won’t take you long, and being informed is the first and most important step to combating the insanity from the gun nuts.

  • Call your representatives.  If you don’t know who your Congressman is, click here to find out.  Then call their office and tell them that you support President Obama’s proposals on gun safety and urge him or her to support it too.  The main switchboard number for the House of Representatives  is (202) 224-3121.
  • Call your senators.  You have two of them.  If you don’t know who your senators are, click here to find out.   Once you enter your state, your two senators and their contact info will appear on the screen.
  • Contact Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. His office number is 202-224-3542.  I couldn’t find the number for the office of the Sen Majority Leader, so that’s his senate office.  Technically, his office is for Nevada residents only, so be sure you tell whomever answers that you’re calling regarding his role as Majority Leader to demand that bring President Obama’s gun safety legislation to the floor for a vote.
  • Sign up for any and all organizations involved in passing these laws.  Get involved!  Check out some of these resources:

Sandy Hook Promise – organizations started by Newtown residents and families of victims

Americans for Responsible Solutions – new PAC started by Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly

Mayors Against Illegal Guns – Demand a Plan campaign

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

 

That last one, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, released an ad today targeting Congressman John Barrow of Georgia. Although he’s technically a Democrat, he’s on the wrong side of this issue, and he needs to know that we do not approve.

And, as I mentioned, during the show I got an email inviting me to a meeting tonight, one of more than 200 Community Committees Against Gun Violence that are meeting today to come up with a local plan for action to stop gun violence.  Find one near you by clicking here.

My friend Cliff Schecter who, in addition to being a syndicated columnist and PR maven, is a consultant to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, joined me in the first hour of the show to talk about the way forward…

In hour two, actress and comedian Maysoon Zayid joined in to talk about a few things on her mind today — including the sad story of the village of Bab al-Shams, and Maysoon’s twitter fight with the able bodied actor, DJ Quallis, who plays a man suffering from muscular dystrophy and “more or less paralyzed from the waist down”…

I brought up something I just became aware of that’s troubling.

SodaStream is an Israeli corporation that produces all of its carbonation devices in an illegal settlement in the West Bank. All Israeli settlements exist in direct contravention to international law! This settlement company obscures its true illegal origin by marking its products “Made in Israel”, however “made in an illegal Israeli settlement” is more like it.

CodePink has more about this, but suffice it to say, I will not be purchasing a SodaStream (not that I was going to any way…)