Apologies to heifers everywhere, but cows, well, they smell bad.

So did the April 17th U.S. Senate vote that failed to advance common sense gun policy reform. Clearly some Senators were more concerned about special interests than they were about the fact that more than 90% of the American people support background checks for gun purchases, and that’s just… there's no other way to say it…. a huge, steaming cow patty!

That's why MomsRising and our moms in the Washington, DC Metro Area are planning a little bovine-themed trip to Capitol Hill in a few weeks to let U.S. Senators know how udderly committed we are to passing background checks for all gun purchases. We'll be using humor to break through the partisan gridlock and garner the attention of leaders and the media.

In April, five – just five – votes prevented the bill to strengthen background checks on gun purchases from moving forward. Polls conducted shortly after the vote in such states as Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Ohio found that the U.S. Senators who opposed passing background checks for gun purchases suffered immediate declines in their approval ratings. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire saw her favorability numbers plummet by a whopping 15 points. The backlash against Arizona’s Sen. Jeff Flake was so great that on his Facebook page he admitted that his vote helped place him “somewhere just below pond scum.”

Well, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on gun policy reform again in the next few months, and several U.S. Senators are said to be having second thoughts about their "no" votes. A little mooing in the U.S. Senate halls will be an excellent reminder that the moms of America are udderly committed to gun safety – and also that leaders will again face a backlash should they fail to vote for background checks a second time.

In short: A little mooing could be all it takes to un-cow five U.S. Senators enough to swing them from “nays” to “ayes” on stronger background checks!

Help MomsRising moo louder! The more moms and family members sign on to our open letter, the more powerful our moos, and the more likely we can get mooovement on gun policy reform! Sign here.