In 1998, my friend Leslie’s boyfriend shot and killed her [Editor’s Note: read Colleen’s post about that here.] But as sad and shocking as Leslie’s murder was, gun violence wasn’t something I thought much about afterward.
Seven years later, I became a mother. As many moms attest, motherhood spurs us on to champion certain ideas and ideals that we may never have considered before becoming parents. When you bring a child into your life, your priorities naturally shift. Your child’s safety becomes paramount. And your mama bear instinct shows up and sharpens itself, ready to protect your little cub at all costs.
The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary opened my eyes, finally, to a gun violence epidemic in America that had long raged but, in my privileged, white, upper-middle-class life, I’d never had to confront personally. Suddenly, and possibly for the first time ever, parents across America could envision their child in the cross hairs. That chilling realization shook us to our cores and we realized: something has to change.
Not long after Sandy Hook, a new group called Moms Demand Action caught my attention. I liked their Facebook page. I shared their posts with friends to spread the message about the gun violence epidemic running rampant in our country. But, other than sharing those posts, I didn’t do anything else. That’s where my activism (slactivism?) ended. And yet, the American epidemic of gun violence raged on.
In August of 2015, a gunman murdered two young journalists in Virginia while they conducted a live broadcast. The plea of brokenhearted father Andy Parker who begged Americans to do “whatever it takes” to end gun violence that fateful day when his daughter, Allison, was killed on air, finally pushed me to do more. I contacted my local chapter of Moms Demand Action and vowed to volunteer to help bring an end to gun violence in America.
For the last year as a volunteer, I’ve made hundreds of welcome calls to new members, supplying them with upcoming meeting information. I’ve attended meetings, sent letters to my legislators, and even visited the office of one in person. I’ve met and talked to mothers and families whose children have been killed by guns. I’m always deeply humbled by their commitment to share their stories in an effort to prevent gun violence from taking more lives, even in the midst of their own suffering and grief. It’s for them as much as for my own children that I continue to volunteer and speak out to work to end gun violence.
Sometimes I hear people say, “Well, Sandy Hook happened and nothing changed. I guess nothing ever will.” But that’s not true. Big, meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes many people working tirelessly over time to make a real change.
Someone, one day had to stand up and say, “Women should have the right to vote,” giving birth to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Someone, one day, had to say, “We need to put an end to drunk driving,” and Mothers Against Drunk Driving was born. Since 2013, MADD has saved 300,000 lives from drunk driving (source here). These changes didn’t take place in our country overnight. Ending gun violence is no different. How many countless lives can we save if we enact sensible gun laws like universal background checks and limiting those on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms?
We’ve made many positive and encouraging changes since Sandy Hook, including these (source here):
- Gun violence is, for the first time, a major issue being discussed during this presidential election. (Source here)
- Oregon became the 18th state to require background checks for all handgun sales and the 6th state since Sandy Hook to close loopholes in their background check laws
- Eight other states enacted laws to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers
- Governors in red and blue states sided with us to buck the NRA to veto dangerous bills.
- We defeated more than 60 of the gun lobby’s top priority bills including some which:
- would have allowed guns in elementary, middle, and high schools.
- would have forced guns onto college campuses.
- would have removed permit and training requirements to carry hidden loaded guns in public.
- would have repealed lifesaving background check laws.
I became an active volunteer for Moms Demand Action because America’s gun murder rate is more than 25 times the average of other developed nations. Additionally, over two million American children live in homes with guns that are not stored safely and securely. These are statistics that, as a mom and as a human being, I cannot accept.
Moms Demand Action works for common sense gun laws across our country, state-by-state, one victory at a time. Moms is not anti-gun, but anti-gun violence. Many of our members are Second Amendment champions and gun owners who strongly support common sense gun laws to save lives. Our membership is made up of liberals, conservatives, and independents and we are, more than ever, reaching out to each other across the aisle to forge nonpartisan, common sense change to save lives in America.
If you’d like more information, or want to join us, visit Moms Demand Action by clicking here.
Colleen is the woman behind San Antonio Mom Blogs, and a mom of two herself. Thank you Colleen, for addressing this issue head on and speaking from the heart. No matter where you stand on the issue, I hope we can all take the time to listen to her words, let it sink in, and respect her passion for actively seeking change.
To contribute to our Mama Memos series, please email Aquila at aquila@hauteintexas.com with your story idea. We want to hear your ups, your downs, your all-arounds when it comes to motherhood. Because sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and sometimes you want to talk about it.
XO,
A
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