"Hearing her speak provides a blueprint for how we can enact change on a common-sense issue," he said. Hopkins sophomore Sam Bacon-who became became an activist on gun violence issues after his teacher was killed in Manhattan in 2017-said after the event that Watts has been an inspiration for him. "But I want to be clear that so much has happened since Sandy Hook." "I know it sometimes feels like this cathartic moment in Congress won't happen," she said. Watts acknowledged that victories at the federal level can still seem out of reach. For instance, the group has helped promote the passage of Red Flag laws-which call for the temporary removal of guns from people who are deemed a danger to themselves or others-in 17 states. McBath, now a congresswoman representing Georgia, has pushed for federal legislation to tighten background checks for gun purchases.īut statehouses are where Moms Demand Action volunteers tend to make the most headway, Watts said. The rhetoric of the NRA has created an extremist group terrified their guns are going. One of those candidates was Lucy McBath, a former flight attendant whose son was shot and killed at a gas station in Florida in 2012. Last November, the nonprofit outspent the NRA in the elections and helped boost 16 of its own volunteer members to elected seats-"everything from city council to Congress," Watts said. Seven years later, Moms Demand Action-part of the Everytown for Gun Safety organization-has evolved into a potent national force for shaping protests, legislation, and even political platforms.
Watts, then a stay-at-home mother of five in Indiana, looked for an activist group on gun safety akin to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and came up empty. The effort was born in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
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