On Gun Violence Awareness Day, a field of orange hearts surrounded a statue in Eisenhower Park of a young girl hiding beneath a school desk, each one representing one of the 130 lives lost to gun violence every day.
Orange is the color of gun safety. Over 100 activists gathered wore the color on June 5, sharing information with gun violence survivors and speaking about their personal history with the topic.
East Meadow’s Janet Klein Goldstein is a fierce advocate for gun violence victims. She 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.
The bills also include 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 due to gun violence every day.
“I think it’s sad that we still have to do this,” said Amanda Geist of Merrick. “The consequences of gun violence are very real and very evident. It really shouldn’t be a debate anymore… it is absolutely heartbreaking for families and for survivors, and I admire the courage it takes to continue and to channel that into activism.”
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 families who are impacted as we are and advocate speak out against gun violence.”
Draine and Graydon spent the past six years supporting families through mental, medical and legal challenges.
“We just didn’t want nobody to go through what we went through, as far as the court system goes, and not knowing where to turn,” Graydon said.
Long Beach’s James Hodge spoke at the event. His nephew was killed and other relatives injured in acts of violence, and he said that he is committed to preventing other families from experiencing the pain of losing a loved one due to gun violence.
“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.”
