As House lawmakers heard gut-wrenching testimony from survivors and loved ones of victims in the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, advocates gathered near the Capitol for a rally to demand action on guns.
Several grassroots organizations focused on combatting gun violence came together Wednesday for a rally near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. — and were joined by prominent political figures in their call for action.
“We will make history by making progress,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to the crowd standing outside the Capitol. “We owe it to the children to preserve a culture in which they are protected.”
The event was organized by Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control, along with its networks, including Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action. Speakers included members of Congress, representatives from gun violence prevention organizations, gun violence survivors and other gun safety supporters and advocates.
Among those who spoke were Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democratic senator trying to craft a compromise on gun safety legislation. Murphy met Tuesday with President Joe Biden as bipartisan talks continue on a gun reform bill.
“Are we are gonna make sure that every single one of my colleagues in the United States Senate, hears from this movement over the course of this week and next week?” Murphy asked the crowd.
Murphy said that he was in “awe” of the assembled group, which consisted of not only advocates, but survivors of shootings and family members who lost loved ones to gun violence:
“Nowhere else in the world, nowhere else in the world does this happen other than the United States, nowhere else in the world,” Murphy said. “Nowhere else in the world does a child like mine, like my fourth-grader, have to go to school and discuss with his colleagues where they are going to hide, where they are going to run from when a shooter enters their building.”
“Nowhere else but the United States does this happen, and we do not have to accept it,” Murphy said.
Murphy said that the assembled speakers at the event “care deeply about making sure that this moment is different, making sure that this time the answer is not ‘nothing’ as it has been too many times over the course of our lives.”
“I know that we would not be in a position right now to achieve a bipartisan compromise to save lives if it was not for you, if it was not for this movement,” he said. “10 years ago when a tragedy hit Sandy Hook, Connecticut, this movement did not exist. We were not ready for this moment, we got beat by the gun lobby here in 2013. This time we have more manpower. We have more volunteers, we have more activists.”
“I'm simply here to tell you that as I stand here today, as we are working through negotiations with our Republican colleagues, I am preparing to succeed,” Murphy added. “I am preparing to save lives, and I wouldn't be in that position, my colleagues that are going to speak to you next, wouldn't be in that position if it wasn't for this movement.”
Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath, who herself lost her son to gun violence in 2012, called the battle against gun violence "the challenge of our lifetime."
"We all understand that the murder of our children – the murder of my child – cannot and will not continue on our watch," she said, calling for enhanced background checks and federal red flag laws to help combat the scource of gun violence.
"I made a promise to my country and my community that I would fight for the rest of my life to make sure that there are no more parents were forced to join us in this ever-growing club of gun violence survivors," she said. "I would take all the love and the devotion that a mother has for her child and I would give it to you, my community, my friends, to make sure that you never experience what I have experienced."
"These are all hands on deck moments," she said to the advocates, adding: "America needs your voices ... do not stand on the sidelines, too much is at stake."
The crowd also heard from Zeneta Everhart, whose 21-year-old son, Zaire Goodman, survived the racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store that left 10 Black Americans dead. The Buffalo shooting took place less than two weeks before the deadly massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Everhart testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
Everhart called herself "one of the lucky few" who can tell the story of her loved one's shooting with the knowledge that he is still alive.
"The day my son was shot," she said, "it was Zaire who called me. He said ‘Mom, mom, I've been shot,' and I wasn’t close to him. The heartbreak I was feeling in that moment in not being able to get to him still lives with me today.”
"He didn’t deserve what happened to him," she said. "Nobody does."
But like many of the other speakers, Everhart expressed some optimism about finding a compromise on commonsense gun legislation.
"I just spoke in front of Congress, and it was a sad situation – but I am a fixer and I believe in fixing problems," she said. "Today, I told Congress our problem. We have a gun problem in this country, we have a racism problem and we have an education problem.”
"I beg of you and I will help you do whatever is necessary to pass commonsense gun laws in this country," Everhart added.