Team ENOUGH Issues Congressional Report Cards on Gun Safety

Washington, D.C., June 28, 2018 - With the school year ending, it’s time for grades to be awarded. Today, the youth-led gun violence prevention group Team ENOUGH issued report cards on every single member of Congress, grading them on how they have - or have not - supported gun safety legislation.

“Despite the hundreds of thousands of students who have taken to the streets this year to protest gun violence in our schools and in our communities, we haven’t seen so much as a public hearing to discuss any of these bills,” stated Team ENOUGH Executive Council member Kaylee Tyner. “It’s not enough for our elected officials to tell us they’re with us - we need to see it in action. We’ve heard that judging members of Congress based on cosponsorship is controversial, but without votes or hearings, how else can we hold them to their word?”

Legislators were graded on whether or not they cosponsored legislation to expand background checks on gun sales (H.R. 4240 or S. 2009), ban assault weapons (H.R. 5087 or S. 2095), and pass extreme risk protection orders (H.R. 2598, S. 1212, or S. 2521). Members who cosponsor all three bills received a pass; those who only cosponsor one or two of the bills received an incomplete, and those who are not cosponsoring any of the bills received a fail. Additionally, any legislator who has accepted money from the NRA in 2018 automatically failed. Members of House and Senate leadership received a standard exemption.

The full set of report cards can be found at https://www.teamenough.org/actions/2018/4/30/report-cards-for-elected-officials.

These bills are all part of the three-point policy plan that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) publicly advocated for President Trump and Republicans to embrace in March 2018 with recognition that some in the caucus did not support all three priorities. Likewise, the day after the Parkland shooting, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi firmly stated that she “would rather pass gun safety legislation than win the [midterm] election[s].”

“The solutions are right there - we know them, you know them, and our senators and representatives know them,” stated Carlitos Rodriguez, a member of Team ENOUGH’s executive council. “It’s been over a month since Santa Fe. It’s been over four months since Parkland. It’s been over five years since Sandy Hook. What’s it going to take for Congress to get its act together? Too many members are failing us, and we can’t be afraid to tell them so.”

Members of Team ENOUGH visited Capitol Hill today to deliver the report cards in person, meeting with elected officials to discuss gun safety. They were accompanied by members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which has supported Team ENOUGH’s efforts through its founding earlier this year.

“We should all be thanking the youth of this country for pushing this important issue and holding our elected officials responsible,” stated Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign. “This is a new day and a new era, and there has been a clear shift in the gun violence prevention movement since Parkland. These students simply aren’t going to sit back and accept the same answers we’ve always heard - they’re demanding change, and come November, they’re going to get it.”

Since launching in May, Team ENOUGH has signed up thousands of members in 47 states to mobilize young voters around gun violence prevention. The group will hold voter registration events throughout the summer, both through the national organization and through local Team ENOUGH groups. Team ENOUGH will also focus on engaging in communities where gun violence is a chronic, ongoing issue.

For more information or to join Team ENOUGH, please visit www.teamenough.org.