State activists prove that gun control is possible
Virginia Tech families, friends and activists showed up year after year, urging action from those with legislative power
Change is possible, and this month it came to Virginia.
On July1, more than13 years since the shooting at Virginia Tech, some of our nation’s strongest gun violence prevention laws went into effect in the home state of the National Rifle Association. If this kind of change can happen in Virginia, it can happen anywhere.
The changes will save lives and reduce crime. They include universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, gun possession prohibitions for domestic abusers, child access prevention laws, locality control over regulation of firearms in public places, bump stock prohibitions, a one-gun-a-month law, banning guns in preschools and day cares, and increased funding for violence interrupter programs, just to name a few.
This did not happen overnight. With persistence and determination, we grew the gun violence prevention movement across Virginia.
When I first began lobbying Virginia lawmakers to strengthen gun laws, my daughter had just been shot and survived the Virginia Tech shooting. I was one of the lucky ones. Thirty-two other families’ loved ones did not come home that day. I resolved to use my voice to enact long overdue changes to Virginia’s gun laws.
The first time I stood in front of
General Assembly committees, I naively thought it would be easy. Virginia Tech was then the deadliest mass shooting in American history. I thought if I told my story, these lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — would see the holes in our system and close them. I was wrong. They already knew the laws, but they feared the supposedly unshakable power of the NRA.
I was crushed when I first testified and was rejected. I was given a “moment of silence” and “thoughts and prayers” — empty gestures that the gun lobby and their allies use to reject calls for change before voting to kill common sense measures. Many of these bills had been on dockets for years, repeatedly killed by lawmakers who believed that catering to a corrupt gun lobby was smart politics.
I learned a powerful lesson. We needed a sustained effort. These politicians stood in our way and they needed to go.
We never gave up. Virginia Tech families, friends and activists showed up year after year, urging action. Hundreds attended the annual MLK Day Vigil and Day of Action to honor victims of gun violence. We formed huge lines to testify before committees. We were loud and unapologetic. We knew that our movement was representative of voters. People were fed up with only “thoughts and prayers.” They wanted action.
I became a full-time advocate with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in 2009.
At the same time, we and other allies did the long-term political work necessary to put politicians on notice. In 2013, voters elected a statewide slate that ran and won by highlighting gun violence prevention issues. In 2017, our candidates came close to a majority in the House of Delegates.
The last straw came when
Gov. Ralph Northam — who was elected on a strong gun violence prevention platform — called a special session on gun violence following the horrific shooting in Virginia Beach. In a remarkable political blunder, Republican leadership adjourned the special session after 90 minutes without debate on the bills.
The voters voiced their frustration in November, which led to a historic session of the General Assembly, and the new laws taking effect this month.
Because of the groundwork we put in place, voters had strong gun violence prevention candidates to choose from, legislators saw a political risk in ignoring the issue, and there was a strong slate of potential bills. Our sustained action put the pieces in place that led to today’s victory. Elected officials everywhere should take note: Inaction will not be forgotten, and loyalty to an increasingly irrelevant NRA will do no good.
Lori Haas is the senior director of advocacy for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.