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Local Moms Help Lead National Gun Control Movement

March 5, 2013

On Dec. 13, gun control wasn’t really an issue for me. On Dec. 14, everything really changed.

— Dara Sicherman,
Moms Demand Action

Dara-Sicherman-stands-near-her-Clinton-Hill-home-680Dara Sicherman stands near her Clinton Hill home. (Photo by Natalia V. Osipova)

By PETER MOSKOWITZ, nytimes.com

Dara Sicherman was never an activist. Until recently, her days were fully occupied taking care of her kids, dog, cat, house and husband. But after the school shooting on Dec.14, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. that left 20 children dead and a nation grieving, she knew she had to do something.

“I was walking around the area around my kids’ school, running errands and got a CNN update,” she said. “It stopped me dead in my tracks and I just started crying there.”

That night, Ms. Sicherman logged onto her laptop in her Clinton Hill townhouse, went to Facebook and vented about the Newtown shooting.

“I think it might come down to this,” she wrote. “More mothers need to be in government.”

Within hours, the post had dozens of likes and comments, including one from another Clinton Hill mom and friend of Ms. Sicherman, Marcie Bohan.

“Ok, let’s do it mama…” Ms. Bohan wrote.

That night, Ms. Bohan and Ms. Sicherman virtually touched base with Shannon Watts, a woman who started a One Million Moms for Gun Control Facebook page out of her Indiana home. On Dec. 14, the group consisted of Ms. Watts, Ms. Bohan, Ms. Sicherman and a few others. Now, it’s membership is in the tens of thousands.

Read the entire story at fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com

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