Building a New Reality

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Top 8 Reasons for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence

BANR founder Ted Wachtel applies the concept of citizens’ assemblies to an urgent need that the U.S. Congress avoids: gun violence, and how to prevent it.

Reason 1 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence

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As a veteran Congressional lobbyist once observed, legislators “would like to do the right thing, if only they can get away with it.” But legislators must please their donors, or risk losing their financial support in the next election. That sad fact was starkly demonstrated in November, 2017, in the weeks before the vote approving the tax cut bill.

Reason 4 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence

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“The public is very smart if you give it a chance…If people think their voice actually matters, they’ll do the hard work, really study their briefing books, ask the experts smart questions and then make tough decisions. When they hear the experts disagreeing, they’re forced to think for themselves. About 70 percent change their minds in the process.”

Reason 6 for a U.S. National Citizens’ Assembly on Gun Violence

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“The voters arrived from all over the country: nine of them named John, 10 who’d come from mobile homes, four who lived in South Dakota. Twenty-seven considered themselves extremely conservative; 30 said they were extremely liberal. Twenty-one were out of work and looking for it. Two came with service dogs.”