GAG Launches AD Campaign and Protests Against NRA's Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHEN: April 25 WHAT: Ad Campaign/Protest GUN CONTROL ACTIVISTS “GAYS AGAINST GUNS” LAUNCH AD CAMPAIGN AND PROTESTS AGAINST NRA-BACKED FEDERAL CONCEALED CARRY RECIPROCITY LAW NEW YORK, NY - In March Gays Against Guns (GAG) launched its first-ever advertising campaign, coinciding with protests at locations around New York City, denouncing the NRA’s (National Rifle Association)’s efforts to secure a federal concealed carry reciprocity law. Two bills have been introduced in Congress to require concealed carry reciprocity across state lines, HR 38 and S 446; as of Friday, March 10, the House bill had 176 sponsors and the Senate bill had 36.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 and its companion Senate bill would require any state that issues permits for concealed weapons to recognize such permits issued by other states, even if they have different eligibility and training requirements or less stringent restrictions on gun ownership.
GAG’s print, virtual, and video campaigns, each entitled "Not In My State," feature a series of over 20 visually dramatic ads depicting a GAG activist and a Human Being— a veiled, silent figure memorializing a victim of gun violence. The bold, location-specific placards proclaiming “Not In My Movie Theater,” for example, will also be available for public use, as will be a do-it-yourself “Not In My…” placard for activists around the country to personalize. In conjunction with the media campaign, GAG is also staging protests and “die-ins” at each of these locations to draw attention to the imminent danger of Concealed Carry Reciprocity in public spaces across the United States.
“I will never forget waking up on June 12th last year to the horrifying news of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando. Since then I have been advocating for common sense gun laws that would stop shooters who have hate in their hearts,” said GAG member Kevin Gotkin. “H.R. 38 and S. 446 are the opposite of common sense. They undermine the safety established in places like New York City, where legislators have worked hard to protect us from gun deaths.”
The legislation also requires that the national parks, federal wildlife refuges, and other federal lands allow concealed guns. In addition to undermining the gun control laws across the country, the act punishes states that enforce their own gun control laws. Someone who has a concealed gun permit and is arrested for carrying a concealed gun in a state that did not issue that permit can collect defense attorney fees if he or she cites the federal reciprocity law during a criminal trial and wins an acquittal.
“The NRA’s Guns Everywhere bill will mean more gun violence and more gun deaths,” said Brigid McGinn, the GAG activist in the “Not In My Park” image. “Federal reciprocity is a direct violation of an individual state’s rights to constitutionally protect its citizens. This is a legislated tragedy waiting to happen.” Gays Against Guns NY is an inclusive group of LGBTQ people and their allies committed to nonviolently breaking the gun industry's chain of death--investors, manufacturers, the NRA and other lobby groups, and their puppets in Congress that block good gun laws. GAG is New York-based but works with chapters in New Jersey; DC; Provincetown; Portland, Maine; and Orlando to ensure safety for all individuals, particularly vulnerable communities such as people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and religious minorities. GAG strongly believes that bigotry and hate plus easy access to lethal weapons is a deadly combination. We demand sensible and meaningful gun reform including a ban on assault weapons and background checks on ALL gun sales, including online and at gun shows.
#GunsEverywhere #Reciprocity #concealedcarry #NRA #PRFront #GINOther
