Mom’s Demand Action

T he day of the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, mother of five Shannon Watts created a Facebook group spreading the message for Americans to take action against gun violence. What began as a small Facebook group quickly grew to an organization with over six million supporters. The group has individual chapters in each of the 50 states, as well as Washington D.C.
Moms Demand Action focuses on the creation and ratification of legislation which can strengthen gun restriction laws in order to increase gun safety state and nationwide. Each chapter specializes in creating change in their respective state, with groups spanning cities. Gun violence prevention activist and spokesperson for the St. Louis Chapter of Moms Demand Action, Kim Westerman, explained that Moms Demand Action is heavily focused on the mission of keeping individuals safe, rather than pressuring partisan issues.
“[Guns] have become an issue that is partisan, but it really shouldn’t be because all of us want to keep our families safe,” Westerman said.
To achieve their objectives, Moms Demand Action’s efforts have a strong focus on advocacy.
“On the local, state, and federal level we’re working to get stronger gun laws in place. We also do a lot of education work to help educate adults mainly on how to properly store guns and recognize suicide risk signs to keep kids safe from gun violence,” Westerman said. “The other thing we do is support survivors of gun violence. Not just people who survived a gunshot, but family members who lost someone to gun violence. It can tear a family apart, and it’s really upsetting, so we support them to elevate their voices.”
On Saturday, August 17, Moms Demand Action organized a rally on the Arch grounds to demand stricter gun legislation be passed in response to the recent El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio mass shootings. Many of those who attended donned red Moms Demand T-shirts. The rally was one of over 100 taking place across all 50 states.
Westerman feels as though gun safety measures in Missouri are only declining.
“We’ve been playing defense for a while and in Missouri the NRA have a real foothold in their state legislature, and they’ve been pushing for more on the laws that weaken gun safety measures,” Westerman said.
The immediate goals that Moms Demand Action is looking towards involve changing state and federal legislature to ensure that guns have regulations and checks. Westerman mentioned the 2007 repeal of the law requiring Missourians to obtain a sheriff’s permit before purchasing a concealable gun, as well as the removal of any training or permit requirements to concealed carry.
“They’ve been trying to get guns everywhere…that would allow guns in places like daycares, hospitals, churches, so we’ve been really fighting these bills,” Westerman said.
In addition, Westerman explained that Moms Demand Action is pushing for the passing of bill H.R. 8: The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 in the Senate, which would require a background check on every gun sale or transfer.
“Federal law requires a background check for every gun sale, but not if you buy it from companies or if it was from a private seller,” Westerman said. “This bill will require that the unlicensed seller and the buyer need to have a license to maintain gun shops. That passed the House in February…it is not scheduled for a vote [in the Senate] yet, so we’ve been pushing people to call their Senators every day and demand that they pass this bill.”
Moms Demand Action meets the first Thursday of every month, and also has a youth partner group, Students Demand Action. These organizations both encourage action on the part of youth and adults in promoting gun safety advocacy and supporting safer gun legislature.
“Right now the majority is speaking out and it’s going to make our legislators change things. I’m hopeful that people will continue to speak out,” Westerman said. “I really hope that young people especially make their voices heard. We’re making a change.”