Gun safety and its role in the 2020 election took center stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Gun violence prevention advocates, including Moms Demand Action volunteers DeAndra Dycus, Shenee Johnson and Maria Wright; former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords; and March for Our Lives co-founder Emma Gonzalez, shared their personal stories, what’s at stake in this election and why they’re supporting Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. And throughout the day, volunteers with Moms Demand Action and Everytown highlighted the issue of gun safety.
To schedule an interview or learn more about Everytown’s plans for the 2020 election cycle, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Read on for more about how gun safety took center stage.
DeAndra Dycus, a gun violence survivor and volunteer with the Indiana chapter of Moms Demand Action, shared her story and why she’s supporting Vice President Biden. In 2014, DeAndra’s 13-year-old son, Dre, an honor student and star athlete, was shot and sustained major injuries at a birthday party he was attending. Watch DeAndra’s interview this morning on CNN here.
“In every town across America, there are families who know what a bullet can do. That’s why I’m a mom who volunteers to stop this.”
Shenee Johnson and Maria Wright, both volunteers with Moms Demand Action as well as members of the Everytown Survivor Network, shared what a gun sense president and vice president will mean for them. Shenee’s first experience with gun violence was in 2003 when her fiance, Shonnon Kittrell Day, was murdered in Far Rockaway, NY. Shenee was two months pregnant with her now 14-year-old son. In May of 2010, Shenee’s 17-year-old son, Kedrick Ali Morrow Jr., was murdered in Queens, NY, just weeks before his high school graduation.
Maria’s son, Jerry Wright, was killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016. He worked for Disney and was at the club celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday.
Earlier last evening, Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts joined a Women for Biden watch party and panel discussion with Emerge president A’shanti Gholar, and Supermajority political director Juanita Tolliver and moderated by Danai Gurira.
On Wednesday afternoon, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, moderated a conversation between Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA); Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Symone Sanders, Senior Advisor to Joe Biden 2020; Alejandro Bedoya, soccer player with the Philadelphia Union and a member of the Everytown Athletic Council, and Reggie Moore, Director of the Office of Violence Prevention for the Milwaukee Health Department.
Also on Wednesday, Rep. McBath (D-GA) moderated a conversation with representatives from Brady, The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF), Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords, and March for Our Lives. Khary Penebaker, a DNC delegate from Wisconsin, who is also a member of the Everytown Survivor Network, spoke about organizing around gun violence prevention.
The day kicked off yesterday with a press briefing on how the gun violence prevention movement will impact the 2020 election. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, participated in a press briefing and discussion with partners Giffords and Brady, moderated by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
And on Tuesday night, Moms Demand Action volunteers could be seen throughout the virtual roll call, including Myndi Luevanos, a Moms Demand Action volunteer leader from El Paso, Texas.
