Two San Luis Obispo County activists were invited to attend a national rally on gun violence in Las Vegas — which drew nine presidential Democratic candidates — and they vowed to take the messaging and grassroots activism back home.
Dawn Addis, a co-founder of the local Women’s March group, was invited to attend the first ever Presidential Forum on Gun Violence hosted Wednesday by former U.S. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and March For Our Lives.
Addis invited Morro Bay High School student Alexa Ford to join her as her special guest. Ford has helped organize of March for Our Lives events locally for youth activists, in unison with the work of the students in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting in 2018.
“The theme was ‘What’s going to make a difference now?’ and ‘What’s going to take for every day, normal people to make a difference to prevent gun violence?’” Addis said. “Here in San Luis Obispo County, we have been booked-ended by mass shootings to the north in Gilroy and the south in Santa Barbara.
“We have to get loud and stay loud so we don’t allow a mass shooting in our community.”
Attendees support background checks, other measures
They were among 300 invite-only attendees, who listened to presidential candidates discuss support for universal background checks and mandatory buyback of assault weapons to reduce the number of assault weapons owned by civilians.
Background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through a national system. Under a buyback program, the government would institute purchases of assault-style weapons.
Activists gather with Elizabeth Warren at the first ever Presidential Forum on gun violence in Las Vegas, Nevada. Courtesy photo
Speakers at the forum included Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Beto O’Roark, and they met and spoke with prominent Parkland activists David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez.
“My biggest takeaway is, to be quite honest, inspiration,” Ford said. “Seeing all of these Democratic candidates come to a forum and hear from young people who want to make change was so beautiful. We met with victims of gun violence and activists, people who have faced all of the scrutiny and boldly and courageously stated their intent and plans for real solutions.”
Addis, who also serves as a Morro Bay city councilwoman, said the politicians reinforced the message that legislators won’t be the only solution to reducing gun violence in America.
The masses will need to rise up to push for change, organizing events such as the Million Mom March that called for stricter gun control on Mother’s Day in 2000, Addis said.
Alexa Ford meets with Parkland activist Emma Gonzalez at the Presidential Forum on gun violence. Courtesy photo
Along with widespread mass shootings, nationwide gun-related incidents frequently include suicides and domestic abuse, speakers noted.
Dawn Addis (left-center) and Alexa Ford (right-center) meet with NBC’s Craig Melvin (left) at the first ever Presidential Forum on gun violence in Las Vegas, Nevada. Courtesy photo
“There was a lot of talk about suicide prevention and how much more likely someone is to be killed if a gun is involved,” Addis said. “If a gun isn’t there, it can help create a pause so people can reconsider their actions.”
Addis and Ford said they’ll both continue spreading the message of gun safety and violence prevention moving forward, looking for a variety of ways to involve the community.
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