An Invitation to Our First Annual Dinner

I’d like to invite all Americans Against Gun Violence supporters and other gun violence prevention activists to our first annual dinner on the evening of Sunday, October 22, in Sacramento, California. The dinner will mark the milestone of the first year that Americans Against Gun Violence has been in full operation, and it will be an important opportunity for us to get together to reflect on what we’ve accomplished so far and to plan for how we’ll address the formidable challenges that lie ahead.

We’re honored to have a truly outstanding keynote speaker, Joshua Sugarmann, lined up for the dinner. Josh is the executive director of the Violence Policy Center based in Washington DC. The Violence Policy Center has long been one of our country’s most credible sources of information on the many facets of gun violence. Josh has worked for more than three decades in the arena of gun violence prevention. He’s written innumerable articles and reports on the subject, and he’s the author of two books, NRA: Money, Firepower & Fear, and Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns.

Josh Sugarmann recognizes the importance of the emergence of Americans Against Gun Violence as a credible organization that openly advocates the adoption of definitive gun control laws in the United States comparable to the laws that have long been in place in every other high income democratic country of the world. In Every Handgun is Aimed at You, Josh wrote in 2001:

America’s gun lobby would be on the run, if only the gun control advocates would bother to chase them. Instead, trapped by their perception of the politically achievable, gun control advocates are always on the defensive.

Based on my own experience in working on the gun violence issue, I couldn’t agree more with Josh’s assessment, and its one of the reason why we founded Americans Against Gun Violence last year. Josh will expand on this theme at the October 22 dinner in his keynote address, Gun Violence in America: A Preventable Epidemic, and there will be a question and answer session after his talk.

We’ll be holding the annual dinner jointly with the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility which shares our commitment to stop the epidemic of gun violence through the enactment of stringent gun control laws comparable to the laws in other developed countries. PSR/Sacramento president Dr. Harry Wang will also speak at the dinner about the other important work that PSR is doing at both the local and national levels, including work to rid the world of nuclear weapons; to replace war and the threat of war with rational means of preventing terrorism and resolving international conflicts; and to protect the environment and reverse the human contribution to global warming.

The October 22^nd dinner will be held in the California Banquet Room of the DoubleTree by Hilton, 2001 Point West Way, in Sacramento. The cost of the dinner is $45 per person ($25 for students). Entrée options include breaded Parmesan breast of chicken with a mustard caper sauce; broiled salmon with lemon dill sauce; and chef’s vegetarian selection in season. Social hour and check-in will be from 5:00-6:00 PM. Dinner will be from 6:00-7:00 PM: and the main program will begin right after dinner. We’ll have a live jazz combo performing jazz standards during the social hour and dinner, and there will be a dance floor in front of the band, so bring your dancing shoes if you’re so inclined.

Click on this link to make your reservations for the dinner. (This link was deactivated following the deadline to make reservations on October 18.) Of course, any donation that you’d like to make in addition to (or, if you can’t make it to the dinner, in lieu of) dinner reservations would be greatly appreciated. Americans Against Gun Violence is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Donations above the cost of the dinner are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by state and federal tax laws.

Some PSR and Americans Against Gun Violence members have also expressed interest in organizing action oriented workshops from 3:30-5:00 PM before the dinner on October 22 and/or a lobby day at the California State Capitol the following Monday. If you’re interested in participating in a workshop or in lobbying at the State Capitol on Monday, please contact us by email or by phone. Also, please let us know if there’s a specific question that you’d like to submit in advance for Josh Sugarmann to answer following his keynote speech.

Thanks for your support of Americans Against Gun Violence. I hope to see you at our first annual dinner on October 22.