A new museum has just opened in Houston, Texas and it’s hoping to move hearts and minds. Change The Ref, a gun control and anti-gun violence advocacy organization, has launched the NRA Children’s Museum, a heartbreaking collection of personal memories, photos, videos and more of children who have lost their lives as a result of shootings since 2020.
The museum is part of The Yellow Bus Project, a mile-long convoy made up of 52 school buses. Between the 50+ buses, they add up to 4,368 seats––each one representing the same number of children who should be occupying those seats but instead have perished due to gun violence.
The NRA Children’s Museum is on display in the leading bus of the convoy, and last week it drove to the offices of Senator Ted Cruz. The leading recipient of gun lobbyist funding in Texas, Cruz has reportedly accepted approximately $750k.
Change the Ref was started by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, who lost their son Joaquin in the 2018 Parkland, Florida shooting. Upon the visit to Cruz’s office, the parents gifted the senator with a letter from their son, which he wrote five years before he was killed and addressed the issue of universal background checks.
Both the gift and the convoy are actions intended to evoke change from all politicians who receive funding from the NRA. “To commemorate this horrific historic moment, we are showing American voters the toll these politicians have taken on our children’s lives with this all-too-real archive. And this is only the beginning. We will not stop with Sen. Ted Cruz. To every politician who has stood by, taken NRA money, and refused to listen to the people they represent: the museum is on the way to honor you next.”
Change the Ref doesn’t plan to stop at Senator Cruz. Addressing members of the media as the convoy pulled into his offices, Manuel Oliver states “If you’re a senator and you believe the things that are happening are OK, look out for a yellow school bus that will be outside your office.”
If you’d like to get involved to initiate reform, visit changetheref.org.
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