“What Could Go Wrong” Spotlights Reckless Gun Lobby ‘Guns Everywhere’ Agenda Including Allowing Guns in Bars; 93 percent of Americans Oppose Allowing Guns in Bars
“What Could Go Wrong” Launch Includes Release of “Safety First” Comedy Video; Viewable Here
NEW YORK — Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, teamed up with comedian and Everytown Creative Council member, Rachel Dratch, to launch “What Could Go Wrong,” a new campaign to underscore that guns and alcohol don’t mix. In a vast majority of states, it’s legal to carry a loaded firearm into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol. This campaign spotlights that risky and reckless facet of the gun lobby’s “guns everywhere” agenda and empowers Americans to take action to make their communities safer by keeping guns out of their local bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. In fact, a recent incident in Pittsburgh highlights this very threat. Just last Friday, a Pennsylvania man departing a bar reportedly shot and killed a 29-year-old woman after she rejected his advances.
The campaign was unveiled last night at a comedy show featuring Dratch, Fred Armisen, Sasheer Zamata, Hasan Minhaj and others at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City; Everytown also premiered the “Safety First” video featuring Dratch (available here). “Safety First” is a wry look at the experience of a family going out for a meal at a restaurant that serves alcohol and allows firearms.
“Far too often, across the country, these ‘What Could Go Wrong’ situations are not a punch line – they’re reality,” said comedian and Everytown Creative Council member, Rachel Dratch. “That’s why as a member of the Everytown Creative Council, I’m proud to be part of a campaign that uses comedy as a way to engage more people, helps grow the gun safety movement and inspires conversations around what responsible gun culture looks like. There is more we can all do to promote gun safety.”
The campaign asks those who agree with the 93 percent of Americans who oppose allowing guns in bars to challenge this and other extreme policies that make us less safe, contemplating “What Could Go Wrong?” when we mix guns and alcohol. People can lend their support by spreading the #WhatCouldGoWrong message on social media, educating others on the dangers of mixing guns and alcohol and checking out WhatCouldGoWrong.com for other ways to get involved. In states around the country, Moms Demand Action volunteers will be reaching out to local bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, educating them on the steps they can take to protect their staff and customers and encouraging them to prohibit firearms in their establishments.
“Guns and alcohol just don’t mix – and the majority of Americans agree it’s a bad idea, yet only one state in the country, Alaska, makes it illegal to bring guns into both bars and restaurants that serve alcohol,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Advancing these types of extreme policies is all part of the gun lobby’s ‘guns everywhere’ agenda that puts more guns in more places, no questions asked. It’s on us, all of us, to push back and activate on this issue. Whether that means heading to your state houses, engaging in the conversation on social media, or taking the issue directly to local business owners, there is a way for us all to get involved.”
Dratch’s participation in this campaign is the latest in a series of notable Everytown Creative Council efforts including Julianne Moore founding the more than one hundred person group last fall, Judd Apatow’s Carnegie Hall fundraiser that raised nearly $100,000 for Everytown and Spike Lee’s leadership role in forging Everytown’s partnership with the National Basketball Association as part of the “End Gun Violence” campaign.
Everytown partnered with Moore + Associates (M+A), a boutique creative agency with expertise in comedy and culture change, to produce the “What Could Go Wrong” campaign, launch event and the “Safety First” video. M+A’s credits include “Halal in the Family” with Aasif Mandvi and “Let My People Vote” with Sarah Silverman.
For more information on how to get involved with the “WhatCouldGoWrong” effort, check out this page linked here.
For more information on “Guns and Bars“, check out the fact sheet linked here.
For more information on the Everytown Creative Council, check out the link here.