Moms Demand Action calls for stricter gun laws on Mother's Day weekend

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mothers and their families demanded changes to gun laws on Mother's Day weekend in Louisville.

Moms Demand Action — a group fighting for public safety measures that protect people from gun violence — held a rally at Seneca Park to ask lawmakers locally and nationally to take action.

Over the first four months and six days of this year, 115 people have died in 22 mass killings — an average of one mass killing a week. The total represents the highest number of mass-killing deaths this early in the year since at least 2006, an Associated Press data analysis shows.

"We have had way too many of these shootings and the numbers are greater than the days in the year," said Christine Heines with Moms Demand Action. "We need to do something."

Protesters stood at the corner of the park demanding action.

"Don't be afraid to enact change," said Gina Center. "We don't need to keep saying there is nothing that we can do. We can do something, we can get out and use our voices."

While mass shootings garner an outsize amount of attention in the news media and the public’s mind, they represent only a tiny fraction of overall gun deaths.

Far more frequent are fatal shootings involving fewer than four people and deaths from domestic violence. And then there are the suicides, which make up more than half of the 14,000 gun deaths so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which monitors news media and police reports to compile data.

The mothers don't want flowers or candy on Mother's Day, instead they want stricter gun legislation.

"A first step we want today is an assault weapons ban, we want to close the loopholes in background checks," said Connie Coartney. "We know one thing that we do isn't going to solve the issue, but we have to try different approaches."

Lawmakers did pass what, for them, marked a milestone gun violence bill that toughens background checks for the youngest buyers, keeps firearms from more domestic violence offenders and helps states use red-flag laws that enable police to ask courts to take deadly weapons away from people who show signs they could turn violent. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law last year.

Organizers of Moms Demand Action plan to host rallies in the future. To learn more about Moms Demand Action, click here.

Related Stories: