Actress Alyssa Milano is urging supporters of MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, to back a petition demanding Vice President Mike Pence cancel his speech at an upcoming National Rifle Association conference.
“It’s sad that Pence is so dismissive of the American lives lost in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, and Parkland — not to mention the thousands of people killed every month by gun violence,” Milano said in the email after she signed the petition.
The actress said Pence is “rewarding extremists in the NRA” by speaking at the organization’s legislative action conference in Dallas.
“Pence, Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the GOP seem happy to continue making excuses for gun violence because the NRA throws millions of dollars in donations at their party,” Milano said in the email.
Pence will appear at the NRA’s 147th annual legislative action conference Tuesday.
The NRA has come under scrutiny following the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., where 17 students and adults were killed. The shooting sparked an uprising, led by Parkland students, of calls for Congress to pass stricter gun laws and rebukes of the pro-Second Amendment organization.
The petition from MoveOn.org, which had 157 signatures as of publication, demands Pence withdraw from his upcoming appearance at the NRA’s conference.
“This is a slap in the face to Americans — from Parkland to Chicago to Nashville — hurting from gun violence,” the petition said. “It’s also a signal to young people organizing historic actions that the NRA’s extremist agenda and donations are more valuable to Pence than the lives lost.”
A spokesperson for the vice president did not return a request for comment.
