Barbara and Charlie Brooks and I had a positive discussion with Michael Jones, Regional Liaison, at Senator Hagan’s Raleigh office.  We again thanked Senator Hagan for supporting broader background checks and asked her to support and sponsor legislation that she would favor with appropriate definitions of assault weapons and magazine limits.  Michael indicated he would pass this on and let her know we paid the visit.  He also stated that community involvement is one of the strongest methods to influence gun violence prevention.  We discussed the gang situation in Wilmington and asked Senator Hagan to help change the North Carolina laws regarding concealed weapons on campuses and in bars.  Michael said her influence with the Republican North Carolina legislature is limited but understood our request to do what she could.  My feeling is this type of visit helps keep the gun violence prevention topic in front of legislators.  We told Michael our goal is a meeting with Senator Hagan in person and that we would keep pressing until some common sense legislation is passed in Congress.

The Moms Demand Action organization has sponsored a ” No More Silence” campaign to represent the 90% of Americans who support broader background checks at a bare minimum and stronger gun violence prevention legislation in general.   Please support their efforts where you can.

After my meeting at Representative Mike McIntyre’s office in Leland, NC he called me on the phone but unfortunately I was not able to receive the call at that time.  Bad luck.  I will try again.  He and his staff get credit from me for following up and making the effort.  If we can only convince him to support gun violence prevention legislation, he can help sponsor legislation to help keep our kids and everyone safer.  Please send him letters so he knows how strongly his constituents feel regarding this topic.