POTUS, do something about violence, insurrection & armed intimidation in the US!

I am writing to you because I am concerned that threats of violence, insurrection and armed intimidation have now become commonplace and normalized in American society. From the armed pandemic shutdown protests at state capitols in April and May of 2020, to the numerous instances of armed individuals intimidating and, at times, shooting and killing peaceful racial justice protesters in August of 2020, to the ongoing credible threats of violence either sent directly to school board members, election and public health officials or thwarted by law enforcement. As a result, an alarming number of Americans are now talking openly and frequently about using force against their fellow citizens and duly elected officials. The killing of 26-year-old Anthony Huber, and 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, and the shooting of now 27 Gaige Grosskreutz in Kenosha, Wisconsin and the killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, in Brunswick, Georgia, and in so many other towns and cities across the country, exemplify the consequences of what happens when individuals act on this rhetoric. Unfortunately, due to the successful advocacy of the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and other gun lobby groups furthering these extremist views, too many states empower individuals to shoot first and ask questions second -- thereby treating gun owners as “super citizens” with special legal protections. I believe that you have a responsibility to address this crisis -- one that continues to empower political extremists to engage in violence with limited consequences. That is why we are calling on your administration to take the following urgent actions: 1) Immediately conduct a federal review of state and local laws that empower and protect armed vigilantes and work with state partners to overturn them. We must remove armed intimidation from our democratic processes, including at statehouses, polling places, and peaceful protests. 2) Nominate another director to head up the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and task that individual with leading a federal response to interstate gun threats and working with ATF field offices, local law enforcement, and the community to prevent threats from armed extremists. 3) Triple the ATF budget to allow it to do its job effectively. You must send a strong message that violent extremism and armed intimidation has no place in American democracy and act to ensure that our nation’s laws no longer empower their behavior. Thanks.