cause-related

Change The Ref Responds To AR-15 Lapel Pins With 'Pin It On Them' Collection


 

Even in the wake of mass shootings, anti-gun-control hardliners in Congress have not shied away from wearing their love for assault weapons hearts on their sleeves -- or, more accurately, their lapels.

These lapel pins depict the widely marketed AR-15 assault rifle commonly used in mass shootings -- as well as in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania this July.

The organization Change The Ref has responded with a collection of pins designed to show the deadly impact of the weapon, cheekily called “The Second Amendment Defender Collection.” The reference is those anti-gun-control lawmakers (and Supreme Court members) who advocate for an expanded interpretation of the amendment beyond the legal precedent of maintaining a “well-regulated militia.”

The collection includes a "pretty assault rifle label pin,” along with “the other side they don’t want you to think about: the victims. Children dead, bloodied and traumatized,” says a young woman in the campaign video. The pins actually depict a bloodied school locker;  a child in the crosshairs, with her hands up; and another one lying in a pool of blood, his backpack beside him.

Change The Ref is an anti-gun-violence organization founded by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, the parents of Joaquin Oliver, one of the 17 victims in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The video at the center of the effort opens with brief footage from horrific school shootings, noting that there were 349 such shootings last year, interspersed with Change The Ref student activists confronting politicians about their opposition to gun safety laws. Lawmakers spotlighted in the video include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Tim Burchett (R-TN) – who noted on the day of the Covenant School shooting in his home state that Congress is "not gonna fix" school shootings and that he homeschools his own daughter for safety.

As the video shifts to footage of Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) proudly holding up an AR-15 pin, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) in a House session, the spot delivers the message that such politicians wear these pins in the halls of Congress even during National Gun Violence Survivors Week, before pivoting to introduce the “The Second Amendment Defender Collection.” “It’s time to pin it on them” the video concludes, driving viewers to the organization’s website.

In addition to the campaign video, Change The Ref is also selling the enamel pin set, alongside other pins commemorating Joaquin Oliver and advocating for an assault weapons ban.

"While we believe lawmakers should be free to take action and express their beliefs, we also believe in telling the complete story, including the dark reality of where those beliefs and corresponding actions may lead," Manuel Oliver said in a statement. "We know a majority of Americans want responsible gun safety legislation, but those with the power to pass laws have failed to act, so we must pin the blame where it belongs: on the legislators who refuse to stop mass shootings."

The message arrives amid heightened scrutiny of gun violence. This summer, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an Advisory on Firearm Violence report that declared gun violence in America a public health crisis, having overtaken motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death in children and adolescents aged 1-19.

According to a 2023 Statista survey of registered voters, 65% of voters support banning assault-style weapons -- including a plurality of Republicans (48%), and 61% of independent voters.

Next story loading loading..