--- title: San Bernardino: Contact Your Elected Representative description: ‘Staying silent and privately grieving isn’t enough anymore' canonical: https://time.com/4134669/san-bernardino-gun-control-contact-form/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-03T16:07:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:15.528Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Contact Your Elected Representative About Gun Control og:description: ‘Staying silent and privately grieving isn’t enough anymore' og:url: https://time.com/4134669/san-bernardino-gun-control-contact-form/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt632ee17028718289/698873a3cd1bba32f86fe5ad/stop-gun-violence-senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2593 og:image:height: 1459 og:image:alt: University students hold rally to demand vote on sensible gun laws. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Contact Your Elected Representative About Gun Control twitter:description: ‘Staying silent and privately grieving isn’t enough anymore' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt632ee17028718289/698873a3cd1bba32f86fe5ad/stop-gun-violence-senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Contact Your Elected Representative About Gun Control > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=98b4bf86-a787-4c12-a2a6-aa7261ab8ace&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: Two Dead San Bernardino Shooting Suspects Named [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Two Dead San Bernardino Shooting Suspects Named](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8crzTekT.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2015-12-03_ by [Nicole Silverberg/Medium](https://time.com/author/medium/) ## Nicole Silverberg/Medium Dec 3, 2015 4:07 PM UTC by [Nicole Silverberg/Medium](https://time.com/author/medium/) ## Nicole Silverberg/Medium Dec 3, 2015 4:07 PM UTC If you’re hurting like I am right now, thinking about the epidemic of gun violence in this country, but you have not yet contacted your elected representatives to make your voice heard, it’s time. I believe that many of us are disillusioned with our government, knowing the power the gun lobby holds over so many of the politicians who are supposed to fight for us, but disengaging from the system and spreading the word isn’t enough. I repeat — it isn’t enough. I just finished reading Senator Elizabeth Warren’s memoir, and I am emotional and fired up about what our senators and representatives can do. They are our voices in Washington, and we don’t even have a chance of them following through on that unless we share our opinions and let them know what we feel. Using the language of [Everytown for Gun Safety](http://everytown.org/) and [Americans for Responsible Solutions](http://americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/), I’ve crafted my own form letter for you to use. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. Take a little bit of time out of your day today and call or email your representatives. Not doing so — staying silent and privately grieving — isn’t enough anymore. Contacting my Representative and Senators took about 10 minutes in all. **Here’s how to contact your Senators and Representatives:** Find your [Senator](http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How%5Fto%5Fcontact%5Fsenators.htm). Fine your [Representative](http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/). Here’s a [directory](http://www.contactingthecongress.org/) with contact information. **And here’s a form letter for you to use:** --- > “” --- **Want to call instead? Right on! Here is a script to use, from** [**Americans for Responsible Solutions**](http://americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/)**:** --- > “” --- **Or these guidelines, from** [**Everytown for Gun Safety**](http://everytown.org/)**, if scripts ain’t your style!** 1. Tell them your name and where you live. 2. Demand a vote to close the deadly loopholes in our laws that make it too easy for dangerous people to get guns. 3. Tell them that background checks on gun sales are the most effective way to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and help save lives. Make sure to say thank you before you hang up. Of course, these form letters are optional for your use; if you have particular ideas about policy or want to speak from experience, you should absolutely do so. **The most important thing is that you contact your representatives to tell them: this has to change.** Thank you for doing your part. I genuinely believe that together our voices can make a difference! Please share! This is our country, and elected officials work for us. Don’t go down without a fight. _Nicole Silverberg is a writer and comedian in Brooklyn, New York._ _This post originally_ [_appeared on Medium_](https://medium.com/@nicolesilverberg/it-s-on-us-too-an-easy-guide-to-contacting-your-elected-representatives-about-gun-control-2e2d8eb20e3f#.r8ubs696i)_._ ## Transcript [00:05] [ MUSIC ] We are on a heightened alert throughout [00:09] the city, want to express our appreciation to the media [00:12] and your cooperation during this emergency. We [00:15] appreciate of course the quick response by our police [00:18] department, our fire and surrounding agencies. We [00:20] don't know where those shooters are. They are heavily [00:23] armed. And they are possibly wearing body armor [00:26] things of that nature it is not a safe area to be it is very [00:30] dangerous and the fewer innocent people we have [00:32] Have in here the better. Up to three people had [00:35] entered the building and had opened fire on people [00:38] inside of the building. 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