USA Today reported that members of activist group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has held their "Moms Take the Hill" event on Wednesday at Capitol Hill. The event, which is on its second year, is part of their "Week of Action" to promote gun control in the country. The group was formed shortly after the harrowing shooting event at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The group is reportedly lobbying for members of the US Congress to put universal background checks into law.
Founder Shannon Watts told the news outlet, "We are taking this fight to the states. What we want Congress to know is that we are watching them, but we are not waiting for them. We are getting ready for the midterms and we are going to hold them accountable for their failure to act."
Moms Demand Action is one-half of a super activist group called Everytown for Gun Safety, of which former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently donated $50 million to promote measures that would further the organization's efforts for stricter gun control in the country.
Executive director Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America has scoffed at Bloomberg's donation, and told USA Today that the move was a waste of money. He said, "We invite him to waste his money. That group isn't going to do anything he promises. Background checks are a complete and total waste of time and money. They aren't going to stop bad guys getting guns."
Everytown's long-term goals are to have comprehensive background checks for gun buyers in place, measures to address child access to guns and improved protections for victims of domestic violence. The group has expressed its hopes to undercut the political power of the National Rifle Association at least in Washington.
Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a prepared statement for one of the group's conventions, "(The) NRA's 5 million members and America's 100 million gun owners will not back down - not now, not ever ... mark my words: The NRA will not go quietly into the night. We will fight. History has proven again the truth that President Obama and the anti-freedom activists everywhere deny and try to suppress the truth that firearms in the hands of good people save lives."
