Mothers Demand Gun Control in Capitol Hill

For the week before Mother’s Day, moms gathered on Capitol Hill for the second annual “Moms Take the Hill” event on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Alongside gun violence survivors and family members of gun violence victims, moms took the day to speak out against lax gun control laws that cost their loved ones their lives.

Mothers rally for gun control laws in Hartford, CT, in 2013.
Image: John Bunce

Sonja Woods is one of those mothers, whose daughter was killed by a man that failed multiple background checks due to mental issues—but was still able to purchase a gun at a hardware store that didn’t require them.

“I am speaking out to honor the life of my daughter, who was murdered by a man who should not have been eligible to purchase a gun,” she said on Wednesday.

Activists like Woods are not demanding that guns be made illegal; they’re simply asking for universal background checks to be enforced for all potential gun buyers. Groups like Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are looking to bring the gun debate to states, with chapters already set up and growing in all 50 states.

These moms, more than anyone, have a right to demand changes such as this. Lucia McBath’s, who lost her son Jordan to gun violence, described the scene Wednesday on Capitol Hill: “What you see gathered here today are moms taking the hill. We know that with the right to protect oneself comes great responsibility,” she said. “We are in this for the long haul and we are not backing down.”

Opposers to gun control say more laws won't help stop gun violence.
Image: John Bunce

Universal background checks sound like something that wouldn’t have much opposition, as these regulations have the potential to save many lives. However, naysayers of the effort, such as Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt, say that enforcing background checks nationwide won’t “stop the bad guys getting guns.”

Universal background checks could potentially hurt the number of total gun sales in America, and many gun owners are loath to submit to regulations that make purchasing or owning guns more difficult. NRA VP Wayne LaPierre even likened the movement for further gun control to an “anti-freedom” movement that will only serve to keep guns out of the hands of good people.