成人抖阴

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It was the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that brought Shannon Watts to action. From her Indiana home, the former communications executive and stay-at-home mother of five created a Facebook group for women who supported heightened gun laws. 

What began as a modest community on the social media platform quickly grew into the political juggernaut Moms Demand Action, the nation鈥檚 largest grassroots gun control group and a primary foe of the National Rifle Association and their allies in Washington, D.C. 

After fighting in the political trenches for more than a decade, Watts plans to retire this year after a long-fought win: Last year, President Joe Biden signed into law the first new federal gun rules in nearly three decades. 

But the mass shootings haven鈥檛 stopped. On Wednesday, students nationwide marched out of their schools to demand additional gun control measures after a shooter killed six people 鈥� including three 9-year-olds 鈥� March 27 at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. This week, Tennessee House Republicans three Democratic state representatives who led a protest on the House Floor in response to the shooting and in solidarity with the hundreds of demonstrators, many of them young people, who packed the Tennessee Capitol.

The Nashville shooting has become the latest partisan flashpoint at the center of the country鈥檚 divisive political discourse. As students in Nashville and nationwide flood the streets to demand additional gun control measures, Republicans have latched onto the tragedy, which was carried out by a 28-year-old transgender shooter, with anti-trans rhetoric. 

In an interview with 成人抖阴, Watts 鈥� who now lives in California and whose children are grown 鈥� said the GOP鈥檚 response to the Nashville shooting follows a long history of leaning on 鈥渟traw men鈥� to avoid an honest dialogue about gun violence. She also offered insight into the power of mom-led advocacy and advice for parents advocating for changes in their own communities.

The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

This week it鈥檚 students who are walking out of school and hitting the streets protesting after the recent school shooting in Nashville. But we鈥檝e been here before. What, if anything, is different this time? What factors have made this shooting in Nashville so politically galvanizing? 

I think it鈥檚 different every time. There鈥檚 this idea that somehow there鈥檚 going to be a tragedy and everything is going to change overnight. And it didn鈥檛 happen after Columbine, it didn鈥檛 happen after the Sandy Hook school shooting, it didn鈥檛 happen last summer [after mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas]. But that doesn鈥檛 mean that things aren鈥檛 changing. 

The system is not set up in this country for overnight change. The system is set up for people to get involved in democracy and that means that you do what I call the unglamorous heavy lifting of grassroots activism, and that forces incremental change. 

I have seen over the last decade incremental change lead to a revolution. There鈥檚 been a seismic shift in American politics. Back in 2012, a quarter of all Democrats in Congress had an A rating from the NRA. Today, not one does. They鈥檙e proud of their Fs. 

And we had 15 Republicans support the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that passed last summer. So things are changing and I believe that after every national shooting tragedy, when people start to pay attention, you鈥檙e seeing change.

The NRA is incredibly weak. They really didn鈥檛 have a seat at the table when the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed. The fact that we have a 90% track record of stopping the NRA鈥檚 agenda every year, those things are only enabled by all of the change that has happened and added up over the last decade. 

When you ask what鈥檚 different this time, I think it鈥檚 that there are even more people who are filled with rage over this situation, who know we don鈥檛 have to live like this. We sure as hell shouldn鈥檛 die like this. The more people who use their voices and vote on this issue, the faster we get to a place where our country isn鈥檛 run by the gun industry. 

President Biden signed the first federal gun control measures in nearly three decades 鈥� yet these shootings keep happening. What do you see were the effects of the law that has been signed, and what more needs to be done to solve the problem? 

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was a very important, critical step forward, but it was just one first step on a much longer journey. 

We need to have background checks on all gun sales at a federal level, we need a Red Flag law, we need to make sure that domestic abusers can鈥檛 get guns, including stalkers. There鈥檚 so much that needs to be done, and we鈥檝e done it really at a state-by-state level. 

Blue states in this country now have pretty strong gun laws, whereas red states don鈥檛. We鈥檙e only as safe as the closest state with the weakest gun laws, so we need much more to happen at a federal level. But in order to do that we have to have a Congress that will make that happen. 

The idea that shootings were going to stop after the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed is not realistic, but I want to be clear that it is meaningful. It takes a multifaceted approach to looking at gun violence as a complex issue. It isn鈥檛 just mass shootings or school shootings, that鈥檚 about 1% of the gun violence in this country. It鈥檚 also domestic violence and gun suicide and community gun violence. 

You asked what鈥檚 happened since the law was passed. The fact that we have stepped up background checks through the FBI through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, 119 buyers under the age of 21 have been blocked from gun sales because they were deemed too dangerous to have access to guns. Prosecutions have increased for unlicensed gun sellers. There are new gun trafficking penalties that now have been used in at least 30 cases across the country. Millions of new dollars have flowed into mental health services for children in schools and into community violence intervention programs. 

President Biden said after the Nashville school shooting that he on the issue without Congress at this point. What is your response to this admission? 

I think that was a little more nuanced. I think he was basically saying that if we want holistic solutions for gun safety it really does have to be passed by Congress. I also want to be clear that the Biden-Harris administration has done more on this issue than any other administration in our nation鈥檚 history. 

Right now, the House is controlled by gun lobby lackeys. They鈥檙e not only opposed to passing good gun safety laws, they鈥檙e actually attacking federal law enforcement and they鈥檙e pushing gun extremists鈥� laws that would put us at risk. Just hours after the shooting in Nashville, a House committee scheduled a vote on legislation that would make it easier to buy really dangerous assault weapons that have arm braces. It鈥檚 the same device that the shooter in Tennessee had. 

So you know, I want to be clear that we鈥檙e making progress. If you鈥檇 asked me a year ago that we would have passed the first gun safety bill in 30 years that expanded background checks and funded state Red Flag laws and helps close what we call , I would not have believed you. 

So it is possible, and I think it鈥檚 inevitable, that our lawmakers at a federal level will eventually take action on this issue because their constituents are demanding it. There was a reason that Mitch McConnell whipped the votes on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and that鈥檚 because he saw polling that showed the Republican Party would be decimated if they did not act after Buffalo and Uvalde. That trend, especially when you see shootings like what just happened in Nashville, will only continue. 

We鈥檙e seeing more and more gunfire on school grounds in this country and we know why. It鈥檚 because there鈥檚 unfettered, easy access to guns.

The shooter had access to two AR-style rifles, an AR-style handgun, and a handgun, but a Congresswoman is blaming the trans community for gun violence.

People who are trans are much more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators.

It鈥檚 the guns.

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts)

The Nashville tragedy was carried out by a person who was reportedly transgender. As such, many Republican lawmakers and pundits have blamed the shooting on the suspect鈥檚 gender identity 鈥� rather than on guns. In what ways are you working to counter efforts to divert the focus from firearms to other social issues?

We see these same straw men after every single shooting tragedy in this country. Republicans always want to make it about anything but what data shows is causing our uniquely American crisis, which is easy access to guns. You know, other nations have mental illness, they have access to video games, they have divorced parents. 

The reason we have a 26-times higher gun homicide rate is that we give people easy access to guns. You know, the vast majority of mass shootings in this country have been by straight white men. And at no point have they said that that is a crisis, that we should really look at straight white men. It鈥檚 clear that that is just a way for them to divert attention because what they don鈥檛 want to talk about is the fact that too many guns and too few gun laws have given us the highest rate of gun homicides and suicides among all high-income countries. 

Gun politics have long been divisive and you鈥檝e found yourself the subject of sharp political critiques and, most alarmingly, death threats. There鈥檚 evidence of the country growing increasingly divided, and with that an uptick in political violence. In what ways have you experienced this change firsthand? 

When I started Moms Demand Action, I was sort of living in a bubble. I was a white suburban mom and I got off the sidelines because I was afraid my kids weren鈥檛 safe in their schools. Then when you come to this issue, what you realize is that it is much more complex and much more holistic than that. 

I was really shocked that we were having rallies and marches in those early days in Indiana and we were surrounded by men who were carrying loaded long guns in public. I was just shocked that that was legal. And in fact, open carry is legal in over 40 states in this country. To me it was a signal that something is very wrong. 

The more and more we pushed on gun extremists, the more they pushed back by behaving that way and we saw them starting to open carry in stores which is why we started corporate campaigns to change their gun policies. What we were starting to see were the seeds of gun extremism. They felt like a right not utilized and expressed in public was a right they didn鈥檛 have, and the NRA actually pushed back on this idea. In 2014 they came out and 鈥榙ownright weird,鈥�  and said it was not something that you do in normal society. And then just days later, they had to change their position because gun extremists in Texas were burning their NRA membership cards. 

Every state has its own version of the NRA but it鈥檚 often to the right of the NRA and much more extreme. When I lived in Colorado, they鈥檙e called the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. They believe any gun law whatsoever is an infringement on the Second Amendment. So the NRA tends to be pulled to the right by these extremists. I mean, in 1999, the NRA opposed guns in schools and supported closing the background check loophole. And certainly that鈥檚 a far cry from where they are today. 

They鈥檝e lost control of their Frankenstein, and gun extremism is now this recruiting tool. It鈥檚 an organizing principle, it鈥檚 a fundraising tactic all for the right wing. I mean, guns excite the right-wing base about things that have nothing to do with guns. And so it is getting young white men through the door, it is radicalizing them, these groups often play in conspiracy theories. Again, some of those were originated and propagated by the NRA. 

The goal is to stoke fear, recruit new members and sell guns. Those fringe gun extremists that our volunteers were facing in those early days started showing up at state houses and anytime a statue was being removed and even threatening lawmakers and police officers and fellow citizens.

We鈥檝e tracked armed demonstrations since 2020 and found that they鈥檙e six times more likely to be violent or destructive than demonstrations where people are not armed. It seems pretty intuitive, but the data bears this out. 

So to answer your question: Yes, I think gun extremism is on the rise and is a very dangerous threat to democracy.

THIS is last year's Christmas card from Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican who represents the district that Covenant School is in in Nashville.

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts)

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles deleted a recent family Christmas card from social media after you criticized the photo, which featured the lawmaker and his family wielding guns. Republican lawmakers have faced similar criticism in recent years for posting similar family portraits. Why do you think it鈥檚 important to highlight these images? Are you concerned that the attention may ultimately play into their hands? 

I think it鈥檚 fascinating when these gun extremists back down, like deleting the photo. I think it鈥檚 really important to point out that this is the culture that鈥檚 killing us. 

This idea of unfettered access to guns and treating them like toys, like putting them in the hands of children. Both of my grandfathers were World War II veterans. They were responsible gun owners, they had the highest amount of respect for those guns and in a million years would not have posed with them like they were toys as opposed to tools meant to kill things. 

It鈥檚 really important that we shine a light. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and that鈥檚 certainly the case when it comes to gun extremism because people see this behavior. The vast majority of Americans 鈥� regardless of whether they鈥檙e gun owners or not, regardless of whether they鈥檙e Republicans or Democrats 鈥� they support common sense gun laws. And I think that seeing that kind of gun extremism is a turnoff to most Americans and they know that鈥檚 not who they want making our policies. 

You began your advocacy after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 with a Facebook group. What is it about grassroots, mom-led advocacy 鈥� based on the idea behind Mothers Against Drunk Driving 鈥� that makes it a particularly effective gun control advocacy approach? 

Bigger picture, women are the secret sauce to advocacy in this country and frankly, in the world. If you go back to when women were first allowed to be activists in America, which was Prohibition 鈥� they [men in power] could never really put that genie back in the bottle. Once women got off the sidelines, they wanted to use their voices on issues that they cared about. 

We are often given the task of caring for our families and our communities. All the way from Prohibition up to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, it鈥檚 really been women and mothers forcing change in this country and using the power available to them. We are the majority of the voting population, we鈥檙e the majority of the population 鈥� period.  So when we use our voices and our votes, we can affect change. 

I often go back to something that feminist author Soraya Chemaly said. She wrote and she featured Moms Demand Action in there and she and I had a conversation about this and she said, 鈥榊ou know, 80% of the lawmakers in this country are men and men are inherently afraid of their mothers.鈥� 

The lawmakers in this country are either very, very excited to see us show up 鈥� hundreds or even thousands of us at a time in our red shirts 鈥� or they鈥檙e very, very afraid. So that can be a powerful coalition. 

Given your success in taking that Facebook group and turning your advocacy into the size of the organization that you did, I鈥檓 curious what lessons you learned about American politics and policymaking? What advice do you have for other mothers and other women who are working to inspire change in their own communities? 

I don鈥檛 think that men are as afraid to fail in public because that鈥檚 sort of seen as brave and courageous, where I think women feel like there鈥檚 blowback when they鈥檙e not perfect, or if they fail. 

If I had waited until I knew everything there was to know about gun violence or organizing, I still wouldn鈥檛 have started Moms Demand Action. I think it鈥檚 important to birth your ideas into the world. The very worst thing that can happen is that you fail and that you learn from that failure and you try something again. 

[In 2014, Moms Demand Action merged with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an advocacy effort by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to form the nonprofit .]

I had this great reverence for lawmakers before I started Moms Demand Action and I assumed they were very smart and committed and concerned and kind and unfortunately what you learn is that too many of them are not and they really don鈥檛 want to listen to what you have to say. But if you are an activist who is all of those things 鈥� concerned, committed, compassionate, curious 鈥� you would make a great lawmaker. I鈥檓 very proud of the fact that hundreds of our volunteers have decided to take a leap from not just shaping policy but to actually making it and running for office and winning. 

In this last electoral cycle, in November, 140 of our volunteers ran for office and won at all levels of government. We have volunteers who are now members of Congress. I think that鈥檚 a really important lesson, too, which is that women make great lawmakers. 

After more than a decade in this work, at the end of this year you plan to retire. What motivated that decision and what鈥檚 next for you?

I鈥檝e been a full-time volunteer, it鈥檒l be 11 years at the end of this year, and that鈥檚 a long time to do this work. But also, I鈥檝e asked myself that question because I think it鈥檚 important for a founder鈥檚 role to be finite. I never imagined I would spend the rest of my life doing this work. I鈥檓 so honored and so proud to have sort of lit the spark, but it really is up to other new and emerging leaders to keep that going. 

This movement needs to last into perpetuity and so, by stepping back, I think I enable other leaders to step forward. I鈥檒l still be a volunteer for Moms Demand Action, I鈥檒l just be doing it as a California Moms Demand Action volunteer. We have leaders who are ready to step up inside the organization and outside the organization, and I think that鈥檚 really exciting. 

As for me, for what鈥檚 next, I obviously will always care about this issue and it will be very important to me and I will use my voice in different ways. Something I鈥檓 really passionate about is empowering women in all different ways, but particularly running for office. 

I don鈥檛 have an answer for you on specifically what鈥檚 next. I will be with Moms Demand Action through the end of the year, I will certainly rest a little bit and I鈥檓 going to be teaching at USC starting in January and, other than that, I鈥檒l figure out what鈥檚 next when the time comes. 

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