A new activist group rallied in front of the White House Saturday morning, demanding executive and legislative action on gun control from the president and Congress.
Inspired by President Barack Obama’s lament this month that gun violence “has become routine” and frustrated by government inaction, Faith Elizabeth Grant founded the group A New Routine For America.
Grant tells The Daily Signal she hopes to reinvigorate existing advocacy organizations and push forward the debate. “We want to get groups motivated and citizens activated on the issue, to call for solutions and results instead of waiting on the gridlock that is Washington, D.C.”
The activist also had sharp words for the president, whom she says “needs to find ways to work with the other side.”
According to Grant, Obama’s current approach has “really alienated a whole group of people who might have different view on other political issues besides gun legislation.” She says that by “making them a separate obstacle,” the president “is keeping us from achieving our goal of keeping our communities safe.”
“He could do more to open up a wider conversation, a more compassionate conversation on what can be done to come together and find common ground on some of these issues.”
First highlighted by the New York Times last week, the rally gathered three-dozen protesters outside the White House’s East Lawn. The group prayed, chanted, and read names of mass-shooting victims.
When heckled by two opponents passing by, Grant led the group in chanting: “What do we want? Executive action! When do we want it? Now! What do we want? Legislative action! When do we want it? Now!”
According to Ladd Everitt, communications director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the tide is turning in the gun-control debate.
“There’s been sea change moments in this country on gay marriage and the Confederate flag,” Everitt tells The Daily Signal. “This country is coming to our [next] sea-change moment. … America is in the process of rejecting radical gun culture.”
According to Gallup’s annual polling on gun control, more than 70 percent of Americans in recent years would oppose a law that bans handguns. A poll from Gallup in January found that 31 percent of Americans support enacting gun laws that are more strict.
After the shooting at Umpqua Community College, “there’s a whole new dynamic in the Democratic Party where they’re jumping over each other to talk about it [gun violence],” Everitt says.
But talking points aren’t enough for Nardyne Jefferies, who lost her only child to a drive-by shooting five years ago. Addressing the crowd, Jefferies held up a picture of her 16-year-old daughter’s body “to show the reality of gun violence.”
“We need our politicians to lead us in front of the microphones and not from behind,” she said. “There’s no need to stand behind the microphone giving your condolences.”
Afterwards, Jefferies told The Daily Signal she wishes Obama would act more aggressively on the issue. She wants him to “call surviving parents” and demand action from Congress.
“Every time there’s a shooting, our president comes on the microphone. And everyone’s sad and saying the same thing.” While Jefferies appreciates the sympathy, she wants the administration to “be more proactive, not reactive.”
The most recent debate in Congress took place following the Newtown, Conn., shooting in 2012. Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., proposed a gun control amendment on background checks that failed when four Democrats joined most Republicans in opposition.
Toomey and Machin indicated they could team up again this year for another push, perhaps aimed at mental illness.
“Anytime something happens outside of Washington, [Obama] he’s on the plane and gone there and he’s talking,” Jefferies says. “Again, I don’t really get it. Your words can’t really save anybody.”
