A South Florida-based non-profit transportation trade group representing small players in the industry across America, including truck drivers, says it is time to “Make the Roads Safe Again.”
This campaign is an effort to stop the current murder rate of interstate truckers, and other workers in interstate commerce – approximately 50 men and women per year (according to US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
The Small Business in Transportation Coalition’s (SBTC) has formally launched the ‘TRUCKER LIVES MATTER’ (TLM) movement, as per president, James Lamb.
They have also launched a new website towards that end at: http://www.TruckerLivesMatter.com.
According to Lamb, the website directs truckers– and other interested Americans– to join the movement on social media by becoming a member of the group’s Facebook Page.
TLM is encouraging supporters to adopt the TLM logo as their social media profile picture through this Twibbon campaign.
The site is also selling TRUCKER LIVES MATTER t-shirts to raise funds.
A detailed FAQ page explains the group’s legislative efforts, their take on NRA’s “national reciprocity” efforts, and the various existing state laws that currently prevent truckers from carrying firearms nationwide to protect themselves.
Lamb’s bill asserts Federal authority through the Constitution’s “Commerce Clause,” which allows Congress to preempt the states’ regulation of guns entering, exiting, or merely passing through their states.
The website directs visitors to a petition to the National Rifle Association (NRA) in an effort to promote and acquire NRA support of the SBTC-written pro-gun bill called the “Michael’s Law Amendment (to 18 U.S.C. 926A).”
The bill is named after the late Indiana-based over-the-road trucker Michael Boeglin who was killed and burned while sleeping in his truck in Detroit in June 2014.
Lamb has been pursuing new legislation in various forms since Boeglin’s death.
Boeglin’s then-pregnant widow Ashley Boeglin teamed up with Lamb in 2014 and signed on to the SBTC-led efforts to get a law passed that would enable truckers to thwart future attacks against them on the road.
She has approved the use of her late husband’s name in connection with the legislation, currently under consideration by the Honorable U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).
“If there’s one thing we have learned over the past two and a half years, it’s that you don’t get a pro-gun bill introduced into Congress easily without the support of the NRA,” Lamb noted.
NRA disapproved of Lamb’s first legislative draft and he says they have not commented on the new version yet, which seeks to address NRA’s past concerns.
“Unlike our first attempt, this Plan B bill is not a special carve out for truckers in that it applies to all Americans and there is no gun permit or registration issue involved.”
“We would hope the NRA is not opposed to simultaneously backing two bills, theirs and ours, as all roads lead to respecting the Second Amendment for all Americans,” Lamb said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNqHJ-5tIjA
(Learn More, courtesy of Jacob Porter and YouTube)
Rubio, from Miami, Florida, who ran for president this past election cycle (2015-2016), in part, on fighting ISIS and was later re-elected to the Senate in November 2016 to a new 6 year term, is a well known supporter of Second Amendment rights.
Lamb said he has pointed out to Rubio’s staff that with all the recent terrorist “truck jackings” in Europe and an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at Fort Lauderdale airport just two weeks ago, which is in SBTC’s home city and Rubio’s own state: “It’s only a matter of time before trucks are used as weapons by terrorists here on American soil,” Lamb warned.
“In talking with Rubio’s staff, we believe introduction of the bill into the U.S. Senate will happen later this month after the new Republican President has settled in, Lamb said.
The TruckerLivesMatter.com website points truckers to employers that will allow them to carry firearms to protect themselves against the dangers of living and working on the road, including the safe truck parking shortage recently highlighted by the Wall Street Journal.
Lamb appeared on Sirius XM’s Road Dog Trucking News with Mark Willis earlier this week to promote the new TLM movement and take calls for truckers.
Lamb released this Facebook live footage, which represents an excerpt from the interview.
“I believe the fact that over 15,000 truckers immediately joined TLM within just a few days of our launching this movement shows that truckers believe their lives do indeed matter and it’s high time we ‘make the roads safe again’,” Lamb said.
