The formula is simple.
Corporations spend an unlimited amount of money to influence lawmakers →
Lawmakers protect the interests of those corporations over the safety of our families →
Common sense gun reforms, that the overwhelming majority of voters want, are ignored.
We have to change that formula if we want to end gun violence in America, and we need bold solutions that address the root cause of this public health crisis. A 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution will end the domination of the big money gun lobby, and their puppet-master influence over our lawmakers.
Americans like you all across the country are working hard to make our communities and schools safer by fighting for a 28th Amendment. In order to win, we can’t sit on the sidelines.
The NRA has spent, at absolute minimum, over $120 million in just the past few elections cycles. Dark money backchannels and weak state disclosure laws obscure the full amount, but the reality is clear: A series of Supreme Court decisions incentivize politicians to cater to their large donors. The NRA’s political influence is a chilling example.
While bought lawmakers gain another term, innocent people lose their lives.
In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo that limitations on campaign expenditures, restrictions on independent expenditures, and limitations on personal or family resources violated the First Amendment. In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti that corporations have a First Amendment right to free speech, and as such can spend money on state ballot initiatives. In 2010, the Supreme Court took that free speech idea to another level, and gave corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited money on campaigns, just like people.
A Constitutional amendment to restore government ability to regulate money’s political use is the foundational solution to this deeply rooted problem. It’s not a cure-all, but it is the first step in righting this series of wrongful legal interpretations.
But winning a Constitutional amendment is not easy; it’s not supposed to be. We need people power, and lots of it, to reclaim our democracy and have a government beholden to people, not profits.
