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Teen Birthday Vote Drive Targets Pro-Gun US Lawmakers

by Reuters

   NEW YORK --

   Gun control advocates are planning to send birthday packages to newly
   turned 18-year-olds in 10 states where they believe pro-gun lawmakers
   are vulnerable. Inside each: a voter registration form. The effort is
   part of a teen voter sign-up campaign aimed at electing a gun
   control-friendly Congress in November by seizing the momentum of a
   movement driven by young people shaken by gun violence, organizers told
   Reuters.

   "I think young people are going to make a huge difference in this
   election, and the new energy we're seeing is going to tip the scales in
   a number of races," said Isabelle James, political director for
   Giffords, which advocates more restrictive gun laws.

   The campaign, "Our Lives, Our Votes," combines the efforts of Giffords
   and two other groups following last month's massive rallies inspired by
   the deadly February school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Organizers
   said they hoped to register at least 50,000 18- and 19-year-olds in 10
   battleground states.

   "America's children took to the streets and led marches with a unified
   message that rang out across the country: We need a Congress that will
   protect us," former Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords,
   co-founder of Giffords, said in an emailed statement. Giffords was
   seriously wounded in a 2011 Arizona shooting rampage.

   The other groups behind "Our Lives, Our Votes" are Everytown for Gun
   Safety, which includes more than 1,000 current and former mayors, and
   NextGen America, a liberal group founded by billionaire hedge fund
   manager Tom Steyer.

   Starting with a $1.5 million war chest, organizers said they would
   reach teenagers with online voter registration ads as well as the
   direct-mail birthday packages.

   Battleground states

   Organizers said the elections they were targeting included competitive
   races for the Senate and House of Representatives in Arizona,
   California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada,
   Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

   Republicans are battling to maintain control of both congressional
   chambers in the November elections. Although the teen-voter
   registration campaign is non-partisan, "the sad political reality is
   that we do need a Democratic majority (in Congress) because we need
   leadership that's willing to work with us and move forward," James
   said.

   She said, however, that her group supported 20 Republican lawmakers who
   favor stronger gun laws.

   The Republican-led Congress has been generally reluctant to impede the
   sale of guns, in the face of constitutional protection for the right to
   bear arms and lobbying efforts by pro-gun rights groups including the
   powerful National Rifle Association.

   Last month, however, lawmakers modestly improved background checks and
   made clear that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   could study the causes of gun violence.

   The Feb. 14 massacre of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman
   Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, turned several survivors into
   household names as youthful advocates for gun control. It also inspired
   the huge "March for Our Lives" in Washington and other cities last
   month.

   Gun control advocates have called for nationwide background checks on
   gun buyers, a 21-year-old minimum age for gun ownership and a ban on
   the sale of assault-style rifles.

   The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

   Least likely to vote

   At last month's rallies, nearly 5,000 people signed up to vote in the
   November elections, according to HeadCount, a non-partisan group that
   registers young people to vote at concerts.

   But young people, especially teenagers, have traditionally been the
   demographic group least likely to vote.

   Only 46.1 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in the 2016 general
   election, the lowest participation rate of any age group, according to
   the U.S. Census Bureau.

   Organizers of the campaign, however, have been buoyed by anecdotal
   signs that the Parkland shooting spurred teenage voter activism.

   In California, new voter pre-registration among 16- and 17-year-olds
   surged between March 14 and April 2, according to a state official, and
   a new Harvard poll among 18- to 29-year-olds found a marked increase in
   the number who said they would "definitely be voting" this autumn.