Tuesday May 7th I had the opportunity to take part in a Legislative Advocacy Day in Albany organized by Moms Demand Action. For some time now, thanks to outreach by Sister Maureen Conway, our Anti-Gun Violence Committee has been working in collaboration with Moms Demand Action. Our purpose is to decrease gun violence. Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety is a grassroots advocacy group which began as a response to the Sandy Hook Shooting. It is a good collaboration. So when the invitation came to take part in this Advocacy Day, I enthusiastically signed up.
Prior to going we received pertinent “talking points” and information on the bills we would be advocating for with our representatives. New York State has some of the strongest gun safety legislation in the county. Despite our size and urban landscape in many places, our gun death rate is the 4th lowest in the country. However, we believe that we can do even better and so off we went.
We boarded the bus at 6:45 AM; everyone in our Mom’s Demand group was so friendly and positive. We shared our bus with members of Students Demand Action from Staten Island. I was assigned to Team #96 as a Note Taker which was a relief because others with more knowledge were able to advocate for the Bills. The main advocacy points include:
- Hold Glock Accountable for Enabling Spread of Illegal Machine Guns with their Glock Switch that converts a conventional gun to a fully automatic do-it-yourself machine gun.
- Require issuers of credit and debit cards to create a new merchant category code for firearms dealers, to help identify and report suspicious gun and ammunition purchasing activity to law enforcement.
- Require the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to develop materials to educate the public about New York’s child access prevention and secure firearm storage laws.
- The School Anti-Violence Education (SAVE) Act would authorize the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to establish school anti-violence education programs and set forth state funding sources for them.
- Expand the regulation of three-dimensional printed firearms known as ‘Ghost Guns’ and expand New York’s existing prohibition on the manufacture machine guns, assault weapons, and large capacity magazines.
- Reduce the number of mandated lockdown drills in New York schools, require those drills to take a trauma-informed approach and require training for teachers and other school personnel on how to implement the drills.
(For more information, visit Everytown for Gun Safety here.)
Advocacy is why we went to Albany, but it’s really about people; each person counts. Each life lost to gun violence matters. On May 7th, we were a band of sisters and brothers with a common purpose; I came away with new friends or allies. It was a team effort. When we first got to Albany, we went to the Westminster Presbyterian Church to meet with other members of Mom's Demand Action, congregate, and talk strategy.
At this time ,Assembly Member Solages and Assembly Member Simon introduced their brand new bill aimed at stopping the Glock switch. It was really exciting to be there for this premiere. Then we were off in our teams to visit members of the Assembly. Our team’s first visit was to Assembly Member Eachus who seemed to be supportive. As a former educator , he was quite sympathetic to the cause. We then went for lunch and talked more strategy, got to know each other better and then some of us went to Senator Weber. Finally we met with a supportive Assembly Member Zebrowski who will soon be retiring. He gave us a tour of chambers and held a press conference about his efforts to bring educational justice to the East Ramapo school district supported by Proyecto Faro Rockland and their allies. They were into Education; we were into Gun Safety; AARP was all over the place.
One of the great parts of democracy is that we can express our opinions, advocate, and vote. Wish I had really understood this reality a little earlier in life, it would have made history class more interesting. We have a long way to go but we are headed in the right direction ; we aree where we are due to many dedicated people advocating for legislation which promotes safety from gun violence. Listening to the dialogue with politicians and fellow advocates it seems like justice gets a little dicey when it comes down to local politics, but if good laws are in place, local politicians must abide by them whether they like it or not .
None of this would have been possible without the diligent efforts and dedication of our partners at Mom’s Demand Action specifically Shari Mauer who keeps it all moving forward. She even baked chocolate chip cookies for the ride home.
Respectfully Submitted by Sister Jeanne Shary, Communication Coordinator and member of our Anti-Gun Violence Committee.