Michelle Roehm McCann - Enough Is Enough: How Students Can Join the Fight for Gun Safety

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This Beyond Words/Simon Pulse edition October 2019

Text copyright 2019 by Michelle R. McCann

Cover copyright 2019 by Beyond Words/Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cover illustration copyright 2019 by iStock.com

Bullhorn and target illustration by Katherine Hill

Interior illustrations copyright 2019 by Beyond Words

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Managing Editor: Lindsay S. Easterbrooks-Brown

Copyeditor: Kristin Thiel

Proofreader: Gretchen Stelter

Illustrator: Katherine Hill

Design: Sara E. Blum

The text of this book was set in Bembo

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McCann, Michelle Roehm, 1968- author.

Title: Enough is enough : how students can join the fight for gun safety/

Michelle Roehm McCann ; foreword by Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action.

Description: New York : Simon Pulse, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019009560 (print) | LCCN 2019011830 (ebook) | ISBN 9781534442306 (ebook) | ISBN 9781582707013 (paperback) | ISBN 9781582707006 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Gun controlUnited States. | School shootingsUnited

StatesPrevention. | StudentsPolitical activityUnited States. |

Protest movementsUnited States.

Classification: LCC HV7436 (ebook) | LCC HV7436 .M347 2019 (print) | DDC

363.330973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019009560

Shannon Watts, Moms Demand Action for Gun sense in America

I never expected to become an activist. That seemed like a calling for important people or someone with a special degree. But all that changed in 2012, after a man with a semiautomatic rifle killed twenty children and six educators inside an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. I had no choice but to act.

It was kind of by accident. I was so angry about what happened inside the Sandy Hook school that I created a Facebook page calling on other American moms to get off the sidelines and start fighting for laws that would make it harder for dangerous people to get guns. Suddenly, thousands of mothersand otherswere joining me online and offline in social media campaigns, at rallies and marches, and in state capitols and at the Capitol in Washington, DC. Before I knew it, Id created Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, now one of the largest grassroots movements in the nation.

But it wasnt easy. Activism is hard work. Every day, Moms Demand Action volunteers spend much of their free time educating lawmakers and fellow Americans about how to stop gun violence. We go up against powerful, well-funded lobbyists who dont want us to pass stronger gun laws. We help elect political candidates who make gun violence prevention a top priority. We put pressure on companies to make sure their policies protect customers. And we teach Americans about responsible gun storage.

Its because of all this hard work by Moms Demand Action volunteers that weve made so much progress since 2012, including strengthening gun laws in dozens of states. And weve helped stop thousands of bad bills that would have weakened our nations gun laws. Weve also helped elect more than a thousand gun sense candidates and weve helped change gun policies at dozens of major corporations.

As a full-time volunteer, Ive devoted my life to helping prevent the gun violence that kills one hundred Americans every single day. As the mom of five kids, Im passionate about gun violence prevention because I want to protect my childrenand all childrenfrom senseless and preventable gun violence. Gun homicides and suicides are at crisis levels, yet gun lobbyists have worked for decades to prevent many lawmakers from acting to make it stop.

Despite the progress of Moms Demand Action, this work will take many years to fix. Gun violence prevention activism is like a relay marathonand weve already begun the process of handing over the baton to you, the younger generation.

Teens in Americaespecially in citieshave been working on the issue of gun violence prevention for decades, but because many of them live in marginalized communities, their voices rarely made it into the national news. It took school shootings in mostly white, wealthy communitiesfrom Sandy Hook to Parkland to Santa Feto get influencers attention. Now that this issue is in the spotlight, its more important than ever for young people to get involved in gun safety and turn the nations attention into action and change.

The tide is turning in America on the issue of gun safety. As I write this, polling shows the public supports gun laws and policies that are proven to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldnt have them, and this is starting to show in Congress and many statehouses for the first time in decades.

So, how can you get involved in gun violence prevention? The good news is that there are lots of options. You could start your own online movement on social media. Start a Students Demand Action chapter in your school or community if one doesnt already exist. If it does, join it! You can join Students Demand Action by texting STUDENTS to 64433.

And be sure to bookmark this page, because I know that after you read the powerful and inspirational stories in this book, youll be moved to act. After all, the biggest obstacle to bringing about change is apathyby picking up and reading this book, youve already taken the first step toward being an activist.

2018 candidates who ran for US Senate, House, governor, and other offices, who pledged to vote on the side of gun safety once elected.

Why did I write this book? I am not an expert on the gun issue, and Im not a leader of the gun safety movement. I normally write books about inspiring women in history. And fairies. But I was compelled to write