Each month, we email a core group of our volunteers and supporters to find out what they know about our work. Most importantly, we want to know how Everytown and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, can better meet our supporters where they are.
Earlier this year, we asked this select group—our Donor Insight Panel—to turn the questions back on us. Their questions and comments made clear that they want to know more about our strategy to end gun violence in this political moment. They asked for more transparency into how we’re charting our course, and we listened.
That’s why, in August, we turned the mic back to our supporters again. Our Donor Insight Panel had hundreds of questions for Angela Ferrell-Zabala, the executive director of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action. Now, Angela is answering four of our audience’s most frequently asked questions. And she’ll be back in the months to come to answer more.
As the Trump Administration continues to do its damage, I am overwhelmed with the harm being caused in every social justice arena, and so are many of the people around me. During times like these, how can we stay engaged with the work of gun violence prevention and grow our movement?
Angela: I hear you, and I feel that too. But that’s exactly why our work matters. Moms Demand Action was built for moments like this.
We stay engaged by leaning on our community of volunteers, survivors, and partners. And sometimes, we have to step away to sustain our engagement long-term. I know that if I’m not finding joy and filling my cup, I won’t be able to pour back into others. That’s when I take a break, put on some good music, and dance it out with my kiddos.
None of us has to do everything, but each of us has a role to play. That’s how we keep going. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can start simply by having a conversation with a neighbor about secure firearm storage.
We also have to remind ourselves how much of our progress on this issue has been made in statehouses. We’ve been doubling down on our state and local work this year, because we know folks can’t rely on the federal government to keep us safe.
I live in an area where there is little political will to make change, and it feels like gun violence prevention will never catch on. How do I continue to fight when my legislators will never agree with me?
Angela: First, I want to say your work still matters. Showing up for the safety of your loved ones will always matter. Even when your legislators won’t listen, your community is listening—and you’re planting the seeds of change.
We also know that to tackle a crisis this big, we need holistic change. Handing out gun locks and secure storage literature can be life-saving. Partnering with local organizations that connect people to housing, food, or healthcare: that’s violence prevention, too. And normalizing conversations in your community about what safety really means? That’s how culture shifts
Of course, we’ll always fight to pass gun safety laws. But it’s these small, everyday actions that make the impossible suddenly possible.
Moms Demand Action has been working to end gun violence for over a decade, but gun violence continues to be a problem in our country. I’m so discouraged. Is anything working?
Angela: This work holds so much tragedy, and it can be hard to feel hopeful when every day, communities are devastated by gun violence.
But we have to remember where this movement started, and where we are now. We’ve passed life-saving laws in state after state. We’ve stopped the gun lobby from pushing through their most dangerous bills. We’ve trained hundreds of volunteers to run for office and win. And we’ve put gun violence on the national agenda in a way it wasn’t before.
It’s impossible to measure how many lives we’ve saved through this work. But I know this: if we weren’t here pushing back against the gun industry, the gun lobby, and complacent lawmakers, we’d be so much farther from ending this crisis for good.
We are at a troubling time in history, but we’ve been in troubling times as a nation before. What previous movement(s) would you look back on to draw parallels and to learn from to address the urgency of now?
Angela: I look back to the Civil Rights Movement, the women’s rights movement, the fight for marriage equality—moments in history when ordinary people came together against enormous odds.
These were long, difficult, and often painful struggles. The people leading them didn’t know exactly what the path forward would look like. They just knew a better world was possible, and worth fighting for.
We have to look back to look forward. When I’m feeling lost, I draw strength from those movements.
Support Our Work
- Join Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action to mobilize with us in every state and Washington, D.C.
- Give today: We are powered by grassroots donations from everyday Americans across the country—and we mean it when we say that every dollar counts in equipping us to work toward a future free from gun violence. Committing to a monthly donation is one of the best ways you can support our work. A monthly gift fuels quick action against the gun lobby and lasting progress for safer communities.
