Let’s do something about gun violence. Here’s how to contact all 535 members of Congress http://t.co/49wbCUl0w3https://t.co/7gSWgbOE2l
— People (@people) October 7, 2015
People Magazine’s website, which focuses mainly on celebrity news, has inserted itself into the national debate on guns.
The website on Thursday printed the names, phone numbers, email addresses and Twitter handles of every member of Congress, all 535 lawmakers, in an attempt to urge its readers to voice their opinions about gun control laws in the United States.
Editorial Director Jess Cagle also used his Editor’s Letter to address mass shootings in the U.S., specifically referencing the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., that took the lives of 11 people plus the shooter. Due to that event, gun control has been once again thrust into the national spotlight.
“As a country we clearly aren’t doing enough, and our elected officials’ conversations about solutions usually end in political spin,” Cagle wrote. “We need to know that our representatives in Washington, D.C., are looking for solutions and not giving up.”
After the shooting, President Obama urged the country to do something about gun laws, saying, “This is not something I can do myself.” According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been roughly 10,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S. so far this year, a statistic highlighted by Cagle in his Editor’s Letter.
