Hundreds of celebrities — Jimmy Kimmel, Alec Baldwin and Alyssa Milano, to name a few — are banding together with activists such as Parkland survivor David Hogg and Me Too founder Tarana Burke. Their purpose? To take on the NRA by staging more nationwide demonstrations, pushing for voter registration and mobilizing these voters “to reject NRA-funded candidates for office”. This anti-NRA coalition is called the “No Rifle Association” (NoRA), and this morning, while students took part in the National School Walkout to mark the 19th anniversary of Columbine, they published an open letter to NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre.
Milano tweeted out the letter around noon:
On the anniversary of Columbine and in support of the #NationalSchoolWalkout—
Our open letter to the @NRA and @waynelapierrejr.
Please share. #NoRA pic.twitter.com/fB6AHhnKkd
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 20, 2018
The letter begins:
Nineteen years ago, two teenagers stormed into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Three of the four guns used in the shooting were legally in the possession of the shooters. There was no paperwork filed on the purchases of these weapons because they were made at a gun show from a private dealer, no background check was made because they were purchased at a gun show from a private dealer, and federal “straw buyer” regulations did not apply because the guns were purchased at a gun show from a private dealer.
Thirteen people were murdered, another twenty-four were injured in the mass shooting. Your organization continues to oppose closing the loopholes which enabled their deaths.
Two weeks later, the NRA held its convention in Denver, just ten miles away from Littleton. As seven thousand protesters gathered outside your convention, you insisted that your organization believes in “absolutely gun free” schools.
You lied.
To read the full letter, signed by over 130 celebs and activists, you can click through to TIME, who first obtained a copy.
More about NoRA and their mission
NoRA, according to Milano, is planning a series of events around the NRA’s annual convention happening in Dallas on May 3 – 6.
We’re going to shine a bright light on the bloody hands of the NRA and the politicians it owns.
Will you help us? We need you.https://t.co/5d0wu75YDp
— #NoRA (@NoRA4USA) April 8, 2018
“We’re a culture hack. We’re for moving culture into a less violent place by counteracting the influence of NRA money in the American political system,” the NoRA landing page reads. “And we’re going to win.” The website prompts people to both register to vote — if they haven’t already — and contact their lawmakers by sending a message or video. You can also donate to NoRA, and Milano told TIME that they’ve raised over $25,000 since February.
“We’ve already partnered with local, national, and international organizations,” the NoRA site reads. “We have hundreds of intersectional activism leaders and social media and cultural influencers ready to jump in. We’re bringing celebrities. We’re supporting survivors. We want you, too. Imagine, a campaign that brings all activists and organizers together in a call to action. A call to hope.”
They end their message with this: “We hope you’ll help us take the wheel.”
