“Road Trip For Background Checks” — Everytown Announces Ten-Day Nationwide Road Trip to DC to Call For Senate Action on Background Checks

Starting on Tuesday, April 6, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Supporters, Gun Violence Survivors, Republicans, Gun Owners, Sportsmen, Veterans, Faith Leaders, and Elected Leaders Across the Country Will Host Roadtrip Events, Passing Along Messages to Lawmakers and Calls for Action — From Community to Community — All the Way to Washington D.C.

“Road Trip for Background Checks” Will Include More Than 60 Stops — With More Being Added Every Day — Across 22 Geographically and Politically Diverse States

Volunteer-Driven Events Are Part of Everytown’s Efforts — Including Seven-Figures in TV and Digital Ads — to Urge Senate to Pass Background Check Legislation

NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced “Road Trip for Background Checks,” a ten-day series of volunteer-driven road trip events taking place across the country, all headed toward Washington D.C., in order to call for U.S. Senators to pass background check legislation.

At each stop along seven different routes across the country, volunteers with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, gun violence survivors, Republicans, gun owners, sportsmen, veterans, faith leaders, and elected leaders will decorate a mural, and collect personal stories, photos of loved ones killed by gun violence, and letters to Congress, which will be assembled and then delivered in person to Senators on Capitol Hill.

Demonstrating the broad, bipartisan coalition supporting background check legislation, “Road Trip for Background Checks” will include more than 60 stops, with more being added every day, in at least 22 geographically and politically diverse states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, plus D.C. As part of the effort, Everytown will collect additional stories, photos, and messages from gun violence prevention supporters from across the country to be shared with Senators.

The Senate has a historic opportunity to pass the first significant gun safety law in 25 years by coming together now on background checks,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Democrats, Republicans, and gun owners alike overwhelmingly support background checks, and there’s a good reason why: they are common-sense, constitutional, and will save lives. That’s a clear sign that now is the time to pass lifesaving background check legislation, and with this campaign, we’re pulling out all the stops to call on Senators to do exactly that.”

“After 25 years of inaction by the federal government to enact meaningful gun safety laws while 100 people die and hundreds more are wounded every single day by gun violence, the time for action is now,” said Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action. “From coast to coast, our grassroots supporters will be mobilizing, organizing, and urging the Senate pass meaningful background checks. Lives are on the line.”

“Barely a week ago, the Boulder community joined the ranks of so many others that have been devastated by gun violence,” said Devon Remero, a Sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder and a volunteer with Students Demand Action. “Enough is enough. We need more than just thoughts and prayers in response to horrific gun violence — we need action. We will make our voices heard, and will not stop until the Senate passes background check legislation that will save people’s lives.”

“The Atlanta shootings were a heartbreaking reminder of the gun violence that disproportionately impacts communities of color, including Black and AAPI communities,” said Courtney Spriggs, a volunteer leader with Georgia Moms Demand Action. “The Senate must meet the gun violence crisis with the urgency it deserves, and we’ll do everything in our power to help pass a life-saving background check bill and send it to the president’s desk.”

The below graphic details stops on the “Road Trip to Background Checks across at least 21 states:

“Road Trip for Background Checks” is part of a multifaceted Everytown campaign to urge the Senate to act on background checks. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund has committed to spending at least seven-figures on TV and digital ads calling for the Senate to pass background check legislation, and launched its first TV and digital ads urging “More Than Thoughts and Prayers” to address the gun violence crisis earlier this week.

This effort follows last week’s mass shooting in Boulder, in which 10 people were shot and killed, and this month’s mass shooting in Atlanta, in which eight people were shot and killed –– including six Asian women –– and one wounded. More than 100 people in the U.S. are shot and killed by gun violence every day, and more than twice that many are wounded, in incidents of gun suicide, city gun violence, domestic gun violence, mass shootings, and more.

Ninety-three percent of Americans –– including 89% of Republicans and 89% of gun owners, support legislation to expand background checks.