Gun Safety Advocates and Champions Celebrate 10 Years of Moms Demand Action, and Call on Lawmakers to Strengthen Oklahoma’s Gun Laws
Oklahoma City, Okla. — Today, State Representative Trish Ranson and over 50 Oklahoma Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, alongside Everytown for Gun Safety’s Managing Director of Volunteer Leadership and Engagement Kenneth Gonzales called for action on gun safety during their annual Advocacy Day in Oklahoma City. This year’s Advocacy Day coincides with the celebration of 10 years of Moms Demand Action’s life-saving work to protect families and communities from gun violence.
“We’re at the statehouse today because we want to make it clear to our lawmakers that we will not back down from a fight,” said Beth Furnish, a volunteer with the Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action. “While our politicians play political games and embrace the gun lobby’s ‘guns everywhere’ agenda, we will just continue to grow louder and stronger. It’s time our lawmakers did their jobs and took action to keep us safe — and we will be there mobilizing and demanding accountability every step of the way.”
Lawmakers have put Oklahoman lives in jeopardy by repealing basic gun safety measures over recent legislative sessions and passing dangerous measures that weaken the state’s gun laws. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers must show up for their constituents and reject the gun lobby’s dangerous ‘guns everywhere’ agenda, including by keeping guns off college campuses, rejecting efforts to lower the training requirements for arming school teachers, and rejecting expansion of Shoot First laws, also known as “Stand Your Ground” laws.
This year, volunteers, advocates, and survivors with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action are also calling on state leaders to pass bills that would aim to protect survivors of intimate partner violence from gun violence by preventing domestic abusers from having guns. In 2020, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, domestic violence reports in the state reached its highest level in at least 20 years. In that year, 61% of female victims of intimate partner homicide were killed using a firearm.
To speak to a local volunteer with Moms Demand Action, a volunteer with Students Demand Action, or a policy expert, please reach out to [email protected].
