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Mitchell: Get involved locally to stop gun violence

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school get ready to board a bus for a trip to Tallahassee to talk with lawmakers about how to prevent another mass shooting at schools. Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school get ready to board a bus for a trip to Tallahassee to talk with lawmakers about how to prevent another mass shooting at schools. Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

By Carolyn Mitchell February 21, 2018 2 min read

Monday I attended the vigil at Ross’s Landing to honor the Parkland, Fla., dead and to mobilize support for gun reforms.

With prayers and lighted candles, the event was somber and moving, but it was also inspirational. The group of about 75 voiced enthusiastic support for actions our elected officials can take to curb gun violence from universal background checks to notifying law enforcement when prohibited persons try to buy firearms to banning semi-automatic weapons.

I know many feel that while the country seems energized by the Florida carnage and the eloquence of the young survivors, the response will eventually amount to nothing. Again, they say sadly, our representatives will ignore the wishes of a majority of the country who think Congress isn’t doing enough to stop gun killings.

My view is that whether I make any difference or not, I’m at least going to give it a try. Many great societal reforms have seemed unimaginable before people outraged by wrongs stepped up to plate and said, “No more.”

Carolyn Mitchell

This may be the best opportunity we have to reduce gun violence during my lifetime. And I’m not going to leave all the heavy lifting to children.

The Monday vigil was sponsored by the Chattanooga chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

The organization’s next meeting will be held Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. in the downtown library.

The focus will be on the 2018 Tennessee legislative agenda about guns and on communicating effectively with legislators.

That meeting and other opportunities for citizen participation make me hopeful. A vigil handout enumerated actions we can take today to #EndGunViolence:

» Join a local group doing: calls and texts, volunteer coordination, organizing events and meetings, data entry, social media, public speaking.

» Check out Throw Them Out (a plan to defeat office holders in thrall to the NRA) and follow the action steps at https://tinyurl.com/yadx84d7.

» Follow Moms Demand Action-TN on Facebook.

» Visit the Moms Demand Action website to find more information on the group’s work at www.momsdemandaction.org.

Help make change.

Carolyn Mitchell is a former writer for The Chattanooga Times.