Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are calling for the National Rifle Association to immediately stop sending automated robocalls that have been pushing the group’s “extreme agenda” to residents, including members of the Newtown community.
The senators call the robocalls “just another example in a long line of offensive steps” taken by the NRA “in the wake” of the Newtown shooting.
“Your robocalls pushing our constituents to contact their members of Congress to urge opposition to common sense gun safety legislation are incredibly insensitive,” the Senators write in the letter addressed specifically to Wayne LaPierre, the group’s CEO. “In a community that’s still very much in crisis, to be making these calls opens a wound that these families are still trying hard to heal. Put yourself in the shoes of a victim’s family member who gets a call at dinnertime asking them to support more assault weapons in our schools and on our streets.”
The Senators add, “Robocalling members of the Newtown community to promote your agenda less than 100 days after the horrific shooting is absolutely beyond the pale.”
The NRA launched a heavy gun rights campaign in Connecticut, where just last week a measure to require universal background checks (a policy the NRA opposes) unanimously passed out of a House committee.
The pro-gun group has been “bombarding” the Newtown residents with calls, according to reporting by local station WFSB. In addition to the calls, the NRA has also sent mailings, including one which calls the gun control legislation “dangerous.”
The criticism from the senators comes only a day after LaPierre blasted New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for what he called an “insane” approach to gun control. Bloomberg’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is spending $12 million targeting U.S. senators who may waffle on the background check legislation set to make its way through Congress.
The White House will also increase its campaigning efforts on behalf of gun reform, as the president is apparently set to hit the road in support of gun control.
The president’s grassroots organizing wing, Organizing for Action, has announced plans to hold a national day of action on March 28. The group will join with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to host more than 100 events across the country calling on Congress to pass laws requiring stricter background checks that are supported by 9 in 10 Americans and three-quarters of NRA members.
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Morgan Whitaker