Before the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, I was a stay-at-home mom of five children. Like most Americans, I watched the news each time there was another mass shooting: Columbine, Fort Hood, Tucson, Aurora. Sandy Hook was different. It made me realize that if I didn’t do something in response, I would be culpable. So sitting at my kitchen counter in suburban Indiana in the early hours of December 15, 2012, I did the only thing I knew how to do at the time: I started a Facebook page. This page, meant to be an online discussion among mothers, quickly turned into an offline nationwide grassroots movement—Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Today I work alongside moms, gun violence survivors and other advocates who are also devastated by the rampant gun violence that kills 86 Americans every day—eight of whom are children or teens. We are all fighting for gun sense: the simple, commonsense idea that we can do more to prevent gun violence. Moms Demand Action members live in all 50 states, we come from all backgrounds, we belong to different political parties, and many of us are gun owners. United by the desire to keep our children safe from gun violence, we are relentless: We will stop at nothing to see some common-sense reform in this country.
Before starting Moms Demand Action, I didn’t pay much attention to gun laws. Since then, my eyes have been opened to the gaping holes in our system that allow guns to fall into the hands of criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill. There are effective solutions to fix our nation’s broken laws that I was shocked to learn we didn’t already have in place. Most people don’t realize that anyone can purchase a gun online without going through a criminal background check.
That is why our members are out in their communities talking about these life or death issues. We are fighting in the halls of Congress and in state legislatures and at corporate headquarters across the country. And we’re winning.
We’ve helped pass laws to close states’ background check loopholes and to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. We’re convincing major brands like Target, Starbucks, Chipotle and others to adopt gun sense policies. In November, the first national election since 20 children and six educators were murdered in the sanctity of an elementary school classroom, moms took the fight to the voting booth by signing up one million voters to pledge to vote with gun sense.
People often ask, “What can I do to help?” or “How can I get involved?” It’s as easy as making a phone call to your elected officials, writing a letter to the editor or checking out the “Join Us” section on our website, momsdemandaction.org/joinus.
The fight to stop gun violence is a marathon, not a sprint. It won’t happen overnight, but it’s happening. We’re starting to win against the gun lobby. We need as many of our nation’s 80 million moms to help it happen as quickly as possible. Our lives depend on it.
Words by Shannon Watts
