Shari Rudavsky

The Indianapolis Star

Within a week of creating Facebook page%2C she joined up with other mothers nationwide

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has chapters in every state

Watts is pushing for laws holding adults criminally negligent for not storing firearms safely

INDIANAPOLIS -- Shannon Watts didn't set out to start a national movement on the day of the Newtown, Conn., shooting in 2012. She was only looking to vent her frustration about the state of gun control in this country, with the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary as the latest example. So, she started a Facebook page.

Within a week, the 43-year-old Zionsville, Ind., mother of five had hooked up through social media with other mothers nationwide. Today, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has blossomed to nearly 130,000 members and chapters in every state.

Question: Did you know you were going to touch a nerve when you started your Facebook page?

Answer: I'm sort of the stereotype of the suburban mom. I was in yoga teacher training, and I could not focus. I literally fled. I drove home, and I created the Facebook page. Within a few days, my husband looked at me and said, "This is going to be a big deal."

Q: Did you have any personal experience with guns or violence?

A: One in three Americans have, but I had never been affected by gun violence. I did not grow up in a home with guns, but my grandfathers were both World War II veterans and avid hunters.

Q: Were you aware you would be taking on the gun lobby?

A: No, nor did I understand how rabid this vocal minority of open-carry activists are. I receive death threats, if not daily, then weekly. That started within the first week.

Q: Does that give you second thoughts?

A: No, every time it happens, I feel stronger. The gun lobby had three decades to create this vocal minority that is terrified you're going to take their guns away. But we're terrified our children will be taken away, and I think that at the end of the day that's a stronger pull to get involved.

Q: Is your group anti-gun?

A: We are not; many of our moms are gun owners. We believe that you have the right to protect yourself with a weapon if that's what you choose to do. I don't (choose to) because the data shows that a gun in your house is more likely to be used against you or by one of your family members to commit suicide. I have five children that I don't want to run that risk with. But that's absolutely someone's right.

Q: What do you want to see happen?

A: Background checks. Banning assault weapons. If you ban the assault weapons listed in the (Sen. Dianne) Feinstein (D-Calif.) bill, you would still have 2,000 firearms to choose from. That seems like a fair amount. Track and regulate ammunition. It is harder to buy Sudafed in this country than it is to buy ammunition, which is pretty stunning to me.

Q: Do you have goals for the coming year?

A: Only 15 states have laws that hold adults criminally negligent for not storing firearms safely. If a 3-year-old gets your firearm, which just happened here, in only 15 states can they bring charges. We want to change the nomenclature. This idea that a shooting that involves a toddler is accidental is asinine. If I was drinking and driving and hit my son, I would immediately go to jail. But if I left my firearm on the top of the refrigerator and he found it and shot himself, everyone says, what a horrible accident.

Q: Why do you think that is?

A: We're not holding gun owners responsible. The gun lobby has had free rein for decades. The gun lobby is encouraging every single person in this country to be armed and for the good guys to shoot it out with the bad guys, and if you look at the laws, they're so lax.

Q: How would you like to see attitudes shift?

A: We have to take our culture back. It is women and mothers who often step up to the plate, who say we have to protect our children, and we're going to make a change. We don't believe that everybody needs to be armed, and we don't believe that you should be allowed to carry a weapon unless you have as much training and regulation as it takes to drive a car. In more than 30 states, you can open carry without any permit or training, and there's a 40 percent chance that you don't have a background check. That's insanity created by the gun lobby.

Q: Is this only about moms?

A: We have a dads chapter. We welcome all family members, but we're trying to give moms a voice in this debate. We have heard that women and mothers' voices have been missing from this debate for decades. The Sandy Hook shooting was like a 9/11 for mothers. When you see 20 6-year-olds slaughtered by an assault weapon in the sanctity of their elementary school, that was, for us, the tipping point.

Q: Have you been to Newtown, Conn.?

A: I have not. They want privacy. We had 70 events in 40 states on the anniversary of Newtown, and we didn't have any in Newtown. This isn't about Newtown. That could have been any town. This is about preventing the horrific, senseless and avoidable pain of losing somebody to gun violence. The gunman in Newtown took out 26 human lives in less than five minutes. It shouldn't be that easy.