Thursday, October 1, 2026
Orange is the color of gun safety. Over 100 activists wore the color on June 5, Gun Violence Awareness Day, as they gathered to share information with survivors of gun violence and speaking about their personal histories.
East Meadow’s Janet Klein Goldstein is a leading member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s New York chapter. She invited local elected officials to the event to remind them of gun legislation’s life-or-death stakes.
“We want them to hear the voices of survivors,” she said. “We want to honor the victims of gun violence, and that’s why we invite them here.”
Goldstein and her colleagues take their advocacy on the road, heading all the way to Albany to push for “common sense” legislation, she said.
“We were in Albany three or four times these past seven months, and we advocated for two bills that the governor signed into law just recently,” Goldstein said. “A third one she signed into law (days) ago, and she’s signing the fourth into law as we speak. It’s breaking news.”
These bills include prohibitions against manufacturing firearms that are easily modified into rapid-fire weapons, holding software companies accountable for 3D printed weapons, and Francesco’s Law, which requires firearm owners to lock up all weapons if a person under the age of 18 is in the home.
In America, about 130 people die to gun violence every day.
Long Beach’s James Hodge spoke at the event. His nephew was killed and other relatives injured in acts of violence, and he is committed to preventing further harm.
“I continue to advocate on behalf of policies that will help eradicate gun violence,” he said. “There’s plenty of preventative measures that we see go on in different places that work, and so I’ll continue speaking up and speaking out.”
Event organizer Stephanie Draine and George Graydon are the founders of Life After Loss A.N.D.R.E., a nonprofit that focuses on helping gun violence survivors through the recovery process. The couple lost their son, Andre, in 2014.
“We started this in 2020, trying to deal with the trauma of losing a child through gun violence,” Draine, a resident of Hempstead, said. “Not having that type of support back in 2014 motivated us to start an organization to support and advocate for families who are impacted as we are and advocate speak out against gun violence.”
