People magazine is fed up with lawmakers' routine response to mass shootings -- and after Thursday's shooting at Umpqua Community College, the publication's editors decided to help readers express their discontent, too.
The magazine has told personal stories about each of the gunman's nine victims, and the latest issue, which will be out on newsstands Friday, includes a letter from editorial director Jess Cagle, who uses the platform as a call to action. He asks readers to press their representatives for better solutions to mass shootings.
"We need to know that our representatives in Washington, D.C., are looking for solutions and not giving up, and they need to know if we agree or disagree with their strategies," Cagle wrote.
To make it easier for readers, People printed the names and phone numbers of all 535 voting members of the House and Senate. (The online version, up now, also includes their email addresses and Twitter handles.)
"When Obama spoke after the incident, I sat there and rolled my eyes and thought, 'here he is again, making another speech,'" Cagle told The Huffington Post on Wednesday. "And nothing has been done about this problem."
In his letter, Cagle reflects on the sad reality of living in a country where mass shootings are so common.
"I think about mass shootings when I'm on a train, and when the lights go down in a movie theater, and when I see children in a classroom," he writes.
"Let’s hold our representatives’ feet to the fire and hear what they’re trying to do about this," he said.
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