Fed Up With Devastation From Gun Violence, Gun Safety Advocates Sent Message to Lawmakers This Mother’s Day Weekend With Hundreds of Events Across 48 States and Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK — On Saturday, as part of a Mother’s Day of Action organized by Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, volunteers across the country hosted more than 200 events in 48 states and Washington, D.C. calling on Congress to reinstate the bipartisan assault weapons ban. Saturday’s events marked one week since a reported white supremacist took the lives of at least eight people, and wounded at least seven more, at an outlet mall in Allen, TX. Sunday marked one year since a white supremacist took the lives of 10 people and wounded three people in a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. And May 24 will mark one year since 19 children and two teachers were killed in an elementary school in Uvalde, TX. All of these shooters, armed with hate and a firearm, used an assault weapon to commit these heinous tragedies.
Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers showed up in the thousands in communities across the country on Saturday. They turned out in force in places like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New York, Ohio and Texas — among many other states — to put pressure on federal lawmakers to get assault weapons off of our streets and out of our communities. In addition, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers made more than 70,000 phone calls on Saturday asking voters to call Congress. On Sunday, President Biden once again called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, and announced thirteen actions to continue implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
“This Mother’s Day weekend, moms across America raised their voice in unison and delivered an urgent demand to Congress: Keep our kids safe from weapons of war,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety. “A clear majority of Americans want Congress to reinstate the bipartisan federal assault weapons ban, and the gun safety movement will keep up the pressure until lawmakers take action.”
“We all deserve to live free of fear that a trip to the grocery store, day at school, or Saturday at the mall could turn into a battle zone due to easy access to assault weapons,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action. “This weekend, thousands of advocates stood shoulder to shoulder across the country to protect our children and communities and demand that Congress create a safer future for everyone in this country.”
From a mall in Allen, Texas, to a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, to a school in Nashville, Tennessee, to a bank in Louisville, Kentucky there have already been over 220 mass shootings this year in addition to the pervasive, everyday acts of gun violence, like homicides, suicides, domestic violence incidents and unintentional shootings, that never make headlines. A weapon of choice for mass shooters, most of the deadliest mass shootings in America involved the use of an assault weapon, including those that took place in Las Vegas, NV; Orlando, FL; Aurora, CO; El Paso, TX; Sutherland Springs, TX; San Bernardino, CA; Parkland, FL; Odessa/Midland, TX; and Newtown, CT. Research shows that mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur from 1994 to 2004, when the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect.
