DeSantis win strengthens resolve of gun-safety moms

I, like so many, was disappointed with the results of the governor’s race. Ron DeSantis is beholden to the gun lobby and supports its “guns everywhere” agenda. Many may be wondering, “What happens now?” But I’m not. I am a volunteer for a group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a nonpartisan gun-violence prevention group fighting for common-sense gun laws and promoting gun safety in all 50 states, and my mission remains the same.

Moms Demand Action was formed in 2013 in the wake of the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School.Since then, it’s grown into a grass-roots movement of more than 5 million supporters. In Orlando, we have a committed group of volunteers who show up for monthly meetings and events throughout the community to raise awareness about gun violence and advocate for common-sense solutions like universal background checks and red-flag laws.

Over the past several months, our volunteers have rallied around Gun Sense Candidates — people running for office who we believe would take steps to enact laws like these.

As Moms Demand Action volunteers, we wrote postcards until our hands ached, urging voters to choose candidates who would stand up to the National Rifle Association. We left work, skipped dinner, and headed straight to evening phone banks, where we dialed strange numbers and endured countless insults and hang-ups, just to get to that one call that made it worth it. Just to talk to that one person who had a question we could answer, that one voter who needed a push in the right direction.

As Moms Demand Action volunteers, we knocked on countless doors, many of us as first-time canvassers. We spent Sunday after Sunday walking down unfamiliar streets, sweating through our T-shirts and wearing our shoes thin, passing out literature and calling out, “Have a great day!” to every person we met, no matter the tone of the conversation.

This enthusiasm is not a lark; we did all of this in the name of common-sense gun law reform. We are disappointed Ron DeSantis won. But in the end, the results do not change our call to action. The issue of gun safety and our demand for common-sense gun laws is not going away. A recent poll showed that single-issue gun safety voters now outnumber single-issue voters who oppose gun safety laws by a 2-to-1 ratio, and an overwhelming majority of voters prefer a candidate who does not take money from the gun lobby.

Ron DeSantis, take note: Our resolve remains intact. You can count on Moms Demand Action volunteers to keep showing up. We will see you in Tallahassee.