CODE Pink Alert from Madison Women for Peace and Madison Mothers Acting Up -- Stop the Cycle of Violence!
Rally/sit-in at the state Capitol on January 21 when the state Senate attempts to override Governor Doyle's veto on the concealed carry bill SB214. Come support our right to live in a society with no concealed weapons, vigilante justice and gun violence. MadWomen for Peace and Mothers Acting Up will be holding a press conference at 9:30 a.m. in conference room 425SW with Wisconsin League of Women Voters and other groups standing against this legislation.
We invite our allies to show up at the press conference and stand with us. We also need folks to hang locks and show up throughout the morning to lend support for this veto. We have reserved conference room 425SW in the state Capitol for the entire day and encourage groups to contact us if they can provide additional help or have other creative ideas to help in this action.
Madison Women for Peace, Mothers Acting Up and our allies are asking the peace and justice community to come in force to the Capitol, Wednesday, January 21 to stop the NRA, Sen. Zien, and gun fanatics as they try to fill the Senate chamber and attempt an override of Governor Doyle's veto of concealed carry legislation.
The NRA and its cronies have chosen the day of Gov. Doyle's state of the state address to override Doyle's veto on the concealed carry bill. Madison Women for Peace need your help in stopping the NRA turning this day into the vigilante state of the state address.
This Wednesday, January 21, the Republican-controlled State Legislature will attempt to override Governor Doyle’s veto of the concealed carry bill. Recent polling clearly establishes that the majority of Wisconsin residents oppose this proposed law, despite the influence of the National Rifle Association and intimidation tactics employed by the bill’s proponents.
Senator Dave Zien, the bill’s principal sponsor, is enlisting a nationwide army of gun enthusiasts to lobby on behalf of the veto override. Apparently the NRA is foisting concealed carry on our state, with Zien their willing front man. Zien notified his special interest group, the Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association, about the scheduled veto vote 24 - hours before conferring with his Democratic counterparts. Why would the concealed carry proponents sneak in this vote? Because Wisconsin does not want concealed weapons.
As Women for Peace, we say if you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!
Please take a look at an excerpt from Sen. Zien in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted on January 15.
In a statement, bill sponsor Sen. Dave Zen (R-Au Claire) asked backers of the measure to crowd the Capitol to persuade four Democratic senators to stay the course. The Senate last fall passed the measure, 24-8, with the votes of 18 Republicans and six Democrats, and one senator absent.
"If senators see hundreds of (bill) supporters flooding the halls of the Capitol and watching from the gallery, they will think twice about siding with Governor Doyle," Zen said. "This is the moment we'vie all been waiting for."
Zen said that any Democrat who voted for the bill the first time and reverses that vote would face immediate retribution at the polls.
We are encouraging allies to bring signs or wear pink! We want to be seen and heard as the majority voice in the Capitol. We need singers and sitters and supporters throughout the morning and maybe late into the day. We will be making more "pink locks" to hang on the legislators' doors and to hold in the gallery symbolizing the Cycle of Violence this bill represents.
For more information, contact us at madison@mothersactingup.org . For updates over the next few days link to http://www.madwomen.org/alert.html .