Pearl Jam Looking to Throw Out Politicians Aligned With Gun Lobby
This week's killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the 18th to take place in the U.S. this year, has ramped up more calls for gun control legislation. Pearl Jam, whose hit "Jeremy" was about a school shooting, are lending their voices to the movement, sending out a pair of tweets telling their fans how they can affect change.
"We're done with 'leaders' who refuse to lead on commonsense gun safety laws," they wrote. "It's time to #ThrowThemOut. We deserve to live in a country where children live free from gun violence in their schools, in their homes, and in their communities. #EndGunViolence"
The organization to which the band linked, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, defines itself as "a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities." Their #ThrowThemOut campaign is designed to vote out politicians who have received money from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and find and elect candidates who will go on the record as being in favor of stricter gun laws.
Ted Nugent has different views on how to stop school shootings, and wrote about them in a pair of Facebook posts yesterday. "The solution is to arm those teachers who are willing to be armed and then to provide them the training to protect our kids," he wrote. He later chastised the FBI, calling them "dirtbags," for having been "told numerous times about this Florida devil and [doing] nothing. Shame on you."