The sign read, "Actually, Guns Do Kill People." That’s what everyone marching with me on Mother’s Day understood. What the NRA pretends not to understand.
I was in the Million Mom March, surrounded by thousands of signs: "Children Are Not Bulletproof," "Guns Kill 12 Kids Every Day." The alarming numbers are hardly distant statistics. Next year my daughter will attend a high school that lost two promising students in this year’s graduating class to gunfire—an all too familiar story in communities across America.
Political pundits were shocked that the Million Mom March attracted over 750,000 to the Mall in Washington and many thousands more to 67 simultaneous demonstrations around the country. They are just beginning to understand that the political tide is turning, and a new wave of citizen activists are demanding change. CPA has witnessed this concern bubbling up across communities since the early 1990s. In 1992, CPA’s
Women’s Voices research and polling initiative identified women’s concern about violence in terms of personal safety. By 1996, our research was the first of its kind to identify women’s concern about violence in schools (specifically children and guns). Nowadays, women’s priorities are shaping the political landscape and focusing debate on the real issues impacting American families "beyond the beltway."
State elected leaders ignore this growing movement at their own peril. Though gridlock has stymied Congress, states are being called upon to take action on gun safety, including background checks at gun shows, mandatory child safety locks, and raising the minimum age for handgun possession.
A few states are already on the cutting edge of gun safety. In April 2000, Maryland became the first state to enact a law requiring built-in locks to be on all handguns sold beginning in January 2003. In May, the New Jersey Senate passed "smart gun" legislation mandating that all guns sold in the state be personalized for an authorized user, making them completely childproof. Other states should follow their lead.
Strengthening gun laws is not just good public policy, but good politics as well. A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 76% of Americans favor the registration of all handguns, 79% support requiring all guns sold in the U.S. to be equipped with built-in trigger locks, and 93% want a 5-day waiting period for handgun purchases. Even in traditionally pro-gun southern and western states, citizens strongly favor new gun laws. For example, 83% of Coloradoans, 85% of Texans, and 87% of Georgians favor mandatory background checks at gun shows, according to recent statewide polls.
Women are leading the way—and they will not be deterred. One sign summed up their determination: "We Will Remember In November." Remember, women are the majority of voters in every state. This issue isn’t going away.
