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Mar 6 • 13 tweets • 8 min read
It was so meaningful to be in Colorado last week for @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand Advocacy Day. Colorado holds a special place in my heart – not only because I used to call it home – but it also represents so much of the progress we’ve made as a movement. 🧵#10YearsofMoms Image
The day began with an inspiring and powerful walkout led by @StudentsDemand volunteers where thousands of students and teachers filled Denver streets, marching to the capitol to demand action. But it wasn’t always this way in Colorado…
A decade ago when we first created @MomsDemand, extremist gun groups held tremendous power in the state legislature and stood in the way of life-saving action. (via @nytimes 2012):
nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/… Image
Then in 2013, following the horrific mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater, Colorado passed laws requiring background checks for all firearm sales, keeping guns from the hands of domestic abusers, and banning large-capacity magazines.
The gun lobby wasn’t used to losing like that and they struck back, recalling two state senators. But we took note and we fought back harder.
nytimes.com/2013/09/11/us/…
And in 2018, we elected gun sense champions like @GovofCO @jaredpolis and my dear friend Tom Sullivan (@Sully_720) – a survivor of gun violence and former @MomsDemand volunteer. Image
Once elected, those gun sense champions took action – passing an Extreme Risk Protection law. And when the gun lobby tried to recall Tom Sullivan in 2019 we said HELL NO.
Colorado @MomsDemand volunteers didn’t stop fighting. In 2021, we helped pass SIX major gun safety bills into law – from secure storage to reporting lost and stolen guns to strengthening laws to disarming domestic abusers.
Colorado also became the first state in the nation to repeal preemption – which unleashed a flurry of grassroots action, where @MomsDemand volunteers went town by town, city by city to make communities safer.
momsdemandaction.org/five-municipal…
Now we’re pushing for lawmakers to pass laws to:
-Require a waiting period to deliver a firearm
-Allow victims of gun violence to hold the gun industry accountable
-Increase the age to purchase firearms

9news.com/article/news/l…
And we need to strengthen Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection law. Because there’s nothing constitutional about a sheriff refusing to do their job and uphold our laws.
But I know we’ll get it done. Because I know there’s no one who will out work or out organize @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand volunteers—just like we’ve seen in Colorado which is now one of the strongest states in the country on gun safety.
everytownresearch.org/rankings/state…
That didn’t happen overnight. That didn’t happen by accident. That happened because @MomsDemand & @StudentsDemand volunteers mobilized, organized and got out the vote for gun sense champions. Text READY to 64433 to join us. Image

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More from @shannonrwatts

Shannon Watts Profile picture
Feb 28
Jacqueline McBride and two other Los Angeles officers fatally shot a woman holding a pellet gun. McBride, the daughter of a conservative police union boss, is the third family member to shoot someone in the line of duty, bringing the total to eight victims.latimes.com/california/sto…
This is Jacqueline’s sister, Toni McBride, who is also a police officer in Los Angeles, and was accused of excessive force in 2020 when she shot Daniel Hernandez six times, killing the carpet installer and father of a teenage daughter.
Jamie McBride was involved in at least six police shootings, none fatal, in the first 11 years of his career.
Read 4 tweets
Shannon Watts Profile picture
Feb 16
Yesterday, I joined @MomsDemand and @StudentsDemand volunteers in Indianapolis at the statehouse to demand change and advocate for lifesaving policies to address a gun violence epidemic that's now the leading killer of kids and teens in the US🧵
Ten years ago, after 26 children and educators were murdered at Sandy Hook School, I started @MomsDemand at my kitchen counter in Zionsville, Indiana. What started out as a Facebook post became the largest grassroots organization in the country.
The tiny seed of hope I felt 10 years ago when mothers and others stepped up to join us has grown with every chapter, every advocacy day, every good law we’ve passed, every bad bill we’ve stopped, and every gun sense candidate we’ve helped elect.
Read 8 tweets
Shannon Watts Profile picture
Feb 16
I stood with dozens of survivors at the White House celebration of the signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act; they supported it tirelessly, @sunny, because it was the first federal gun safety legislation in 26 years and will save thousands of lives - many of them women.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act prevents convicted domestic abusers from obtaining firearms even when they’re not married to or don’t have a child with the victim - a key provision that will save lives and become a major part of the law’s legacy. apnews.com/article/gun-vi…
Before this new federal legislation, only people convicted of domestic violence or subject to a domestic violence restraining orders were prohibited purchasers - but that definition missed a whole group of perpetrators: current and former intimate partners.
Read 9 tweets
Shannon Watts Profile picture
Feb 8
President Joe Biden on guns: “Do something. That was the same plea of parents who lost their children in Uvalde: Do something on gun violence.

Thank God we did, passing the most sweeping gun safety law in three decades.” #StateOfTheUnionAddress
“That includes things that the majority of responsible gun owners support, like enhanced background checks for 18 to 21-year-olds and red flag laws keeping guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves and others.

But we know our work is not done.”
“Joining us tonight is Brandon Tsay, a 26-year-old hero. Brandon put off his college dreams to stay by his mom’s side as she was dying from cancer. He now works at a dance studio started by his grandparents.”
Read 6 tweets
Shannon Watts Profile picture
Feb 2
Last week, I had the opportunity to be in Phoenix with hundreds of Arizona @momsdemand volunteers demanding action from lawmakers. Arizona vols have been relentless in their pursuit of a safer state despite an often challenging legislative landscape🧵#AZleg
Despite a pro-NRA governor, last year @momsdemand and @studentsdemand volunteers helped stop SIX bad gun lobby backed bills from becoming law.
These bills included measures that would:
-Allow guns on campuses and in public spaces
-Expand shoot first protections
-Attempt to nullify federal gun laws
-Put the NRA’s dangerous Eddie the Eagle firearm training program in schools
Read 8 tweets
Shannon Watts Profile picture
Jan 30
Permitless carry - widely opposed by police - would remove Florida’s background check and safety training requirements. Florida doesn’t require background checks on unlicensed sales so this may be the only background check a person has before getting a gun.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-fl…
This would enable people who currently cannot get a permit to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public, including violent criminals. Under current Florida law, people recently been convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes can’t get a concealed weapon license.
And teens. Florida law requires a person to be 21 years old to get a concealed weapon license. Under permitless carry, people as young as 18 years old could carry guns throughout Florida. 18 to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older.
Read 8 tweets

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