'We Must Do Something About This': Moms Demand Action Exec Dir Reacts To Minneapolis Church Shooting

Forbes Breaking News

A shooter, who according to police, was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, opened fire into a mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Two children were killed and at least 17 people, including 14 children, were injured. Moms Demand Action Executive Director Angela Ferrell-Zabala joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the tragedy.

Transcript

00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now

00:08is Angela Farrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action. Angela, thank you so much

00:14for joining me today. Thank you for having me here. It is a heavy day today. As school starts

00:21up again around the country, the nation has witnessed another senseless tragedy,

00:25this time in Minneapolis. And I want to talk about what we know so far because this could change.

00:31The shooting happened just a few hours ago from now. A shooter armed with a rifle, a shotgun,

00:36and a pistol opened fire on a mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. The police said

00:42as of now, two children have died, an 8- and 10-year-old, and 17 people, including 14 children,

00:49were injured. Multiple injured people right now are in critical condition. So to start off the

00:54conversation, what's your reaction to what we're seeing play out in Minneapolis?

00:58I mean, it's horrible. I think this is every parent's worst nightmare, dropping your kids

01:04off to school and not seeing them come home safely. I mean, we're just into the school year,

01:09just finished summer break, and we should be thinking about school supplies, back-to-school

01:13night, field trips, and not planning a funeral for our babies. As a mother of four children and

01:19two little ones that are just around this age and a woman of faith, this is deeply alarming

01:26for me. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for kids in this country, and today really shows

01:32what it looks like when we are not taking all the measures we need to make sure that we're keeping

01:37our children, our babies, safe and sound so they can be safe in schools and in places of worship.

01:43And I think, I mean, like you said, this is every parent's worst nightmare. This is certainly

01:50everyone's worst nightmare. As someone who is Catholic, I can't imagine going into a church

01:57and not thinking that I would come out safe. People go to these places of worship, they feel safe or

02:02they expect to feel safe there, and that's not what happened today in Minneapolis. Mayor Fry,

02:07he's the Minneapolis mayor, he said this, quote,

02:09Do not think of these as just somebody else's kids, but think of them as if they were your own.

02:15Do you think that by changing the thinking here, thinking that these are our own kids,

02:21that could make a difference as people view school shootings in general?

02:27I think we absolutely have no choice but to think of these as being our children. These are our own

02:33babies, our communities, and we have the responsibility as adults, as lawmakers, as people of faith,

02:39to do everything in our power to keep them safe. And that means enacting gun laws and things that we

02:45know are common sense and that can prevent these kinds of tragedies. I think, you know, oftentimes

02:50when we see this kind of violence play out, it grabs the national attention. Everybody is disturbed to

02:57see that we have parents that have to bury their children. You can almost envision and think about

03:03your own children, your own young people in your life. And yet we treat it sometimes as if this is

03:09some kind of natural disaster or this is like, how did this happen? Easy access to guns and not really

03:15digging into our ability to have common sense gun laws in this country is really, really important.

03:23So I, today, first and foremost, am sending my heart and prayers to the families that are directly

03:31impacting the community all around, not only the school, but the church, because this is very

03:36devastating. And I think in these times, people sometimes say now's not the time to get political.

03:44Now's not the time to bring up politics. Now's not the time to bring up policy. We're sending our

03:48thoughts and prayers to these communities. We need to let this community heal. The Minneapolis mayor

03:54also said these children were literally praying enough thoughts and prayers, essentially. I mean,

04:01what do you think is the solution here? So as a person of deep faith, I agree. I use prayer all the

04:08time in those times where I need to pull myself out of a space of, you know, either sadness or fear,

04:13whatever that may be. So prayer is very important, but prayer without action is

04:18dead. It does nothing. We can't bring these children back. But what we need to do is make

04:23sure that we are moving forward and doing everything in our power. Every single one of us has an obligation

04:28to protect our communities and our children, everything that we can do to make sure that we

04:33don't have easy access to guns, that we do have common sense gun laws and policies put in place

04:39that could have prevented this very tragedy. Do you think we're any closer right now to a common

04:46sense gun law here? Because the Minneapolis police chief, he said he wants to protect protect his

04:53community, places of worship and children. And every time there's a school shooting, I mean, the pictures

04:59are just horrifying. You see children crying, you see parents crying, you see reuniting of parents and

05:07children. I mean, it's just almost too much to bear. But we can't look away because this is happening in every

05:13community across this country. So how close are we to a solution, do you think?

05:18Well, I'll say a couple things. First of all, you're absolutely right.

05:21Not look, let's not look away. It is our responsibility to protect our children as this

05:25is being the leading cause of death for kids in our country is unacceptable. That's number one.

05:30You mentioned earlier about the politics of this. This is not about politics. This is about saving

05:35lives. We have people, I have the pleasure as the executive director of Momsman Action,

05:39to travel all the country. And we have people from all kinds of backgrounds, whether they are

05:44Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal gun owners, not faith leaders, veterans. And the common

05:50theme is that we must do something about this. We must and we can do something about this. And polls all

05:56over the place show that the majority of Americans want to see strong, responsible gun laws in this

06:03country to prevent these kinds of tragedies. What I am seeing, though, is also not only are people

06:08waking up and saying, this is unacceptable. Our baby should not be suffering because we are not

06:14taking the action we need or don't have the courage to do what we need to keep them safe.

06:19They're also getting up and thinking about things like having those conversations with their community

06:24members and neighbors about gun violence, prevention, and safety. Even simply saying,

06:29if your kid is going over to a sleepover or a play date, do you have a gun in the home? And what can we

06:34do once we know that we have a gun in the home to make sure that it's securely stored? There's all kinds

06:39of policies from secure storage to assault weapons ban. I know in this case, we see that this seems to be

06:46from the reports I've seen, seems to be a semi-automatic rifle. And we know that Minnesota has is working

06:54and has some decent gun laws in place. But this is a big gaping hole here at this point. We know federally we don't

07:02have it. And this is one of the states that don't actually have this. And this could have prevented

07:05this tragedy. So I see us moving forward in many ways, pushing from all angles. And we look at how

07:12big this problem is in this country. It is a public health crisis and tragedy here in this country.

07:17And we need to approach it from every single angle, from federal to electoral to health care.

07:23So we're doing everything in our power to work alongside lawmakers and others that are going to step up

07:29and do the right thing to make sure that we don't have to see this kind of tragedy with our children.

07:33I know that people want a proactive approach to be taken when it comes to gun violence in this

07:38country. And Trey Gowdy, he's a former Republican congressman. He said this today, just hours after

07:44the tragedy. Quote, our system is reactive. And he also added this, what people are crying for now is

07:50how we can prevent this. How can we stop it? And the only way to stop it is to identify the shooter

07:56ahead of time or keep the weapons out of their hands. So we're really going to have to have a

08:00conversation of freedom versus protecting children. What do you make of that sentiment?

08:05You know, it's really disturbing for me as a parent, I would just say to anybody, parent,

08:12caring about children, you don't even have to be a parent, just caring about young,

08:15innocent lives being stolen in this country by something that is so preventable. It is not an

08:21either or. When we think about Moms Demand Action in Everytown for Gun Safety, we have so

08:26many people, gun owners, veterans, law enforcement that are with us, that are part of our coalition

08:31of Americans that are stepping up and saying enough is enough. Responsible gun ownership is

08:36important. And also we can do that and protect the lives of our children. There's no way, this is not

08:42about trying to have a crystal ball and see, you know, what moves people will make when it comes to gun

08:48violence. And in fact, I would say we're the only country in this world that has this kind of

08:53problem when it comes to gun violence in our children. Mental health issues, I hear that all

08:57the time. It's a mental health thing. You know what? We're not the only country that has people

09:01that are in crisis, but yet we're the only country that we have to turn on the news and see reports

09:07of our children being gunned down in the very places that they should be safe. So I think it is

09:12not a courageous way to lead when we're going to compare a freedom over the freedom of our children

09:18to live and play without the fear of gun violence, the freedom of them to sit in those classrooms

09:23and learn reading, writing, and arithmetic and not have to duck and weave. This is absolutely

09:28outrageous and we're fed up and sick and tired of all the excuses. We want action and we're going to

09:33continue to do everything in our power to get that. Statistics show that this is, to your point,

09:39a uniquely American problem. Do you think by reframing it as a public health crisis,

09:45do you think that by looking at that, people will react to it differently?

09:51You know, what I will say is, first of all, it is a public health crisis. It has already been

09:55called a public health crisis. And so we don't have to do anything different there. And I will say

09:59part of my honor of being in this role as executive director, even though this is a very tragic

10:05issue that we're facing, gun violence in this country, I get to travel all across this country,

10:10the reddest of red, the bluest of blue states, purple states, people of all walks of lives.

10:15And I will tell you that the majority of people will agree. And you poll after poll will show you

10:20that we need to do something when it comes to common sense laws that will protect our families

10:25and protect our communities. So this isn't an either, or this isn't picking a side. This is

10:32really, let's think about our babies. Our babies are being buried. We have to do something and must do

10:39something different. So there's a lot to be done. There's a lot that we've already done. Many states

10:44are stepping up and doing everything in their power to create policies and things that we know

10:51will keep our children and our communities safe, frankly. And so we're going to keep on,

10:56keep our foot on the gas with this. And I just, again, want to just send my heart out to everyone

11:02who is directly impacted and say to them and the communities that are surrounding this direct

11:08impact and say to them, we are not going to let up. We are with you. And we're going to continue

11:13to fight to make sure that police sanctuaries for our children, for our families, for our communities

11:18stay that way. I think something that all moms can agree on in this country, regardless of political

11:24party, regardless of where they live, is that when they send their child to school, they hope and they

11:30expect that their child comes back safely. And as the executive director of Moms Demand Action,

11:36I'm curious what you think is missing from the national conversation when it comes to gun violence in this

11:40country? Because in Minneapolis in the past 24 hours, there have been multiple shootings.

11:47Yeah, that's, that's correct. So I think it is not about what's missing from the conversation. I think

11:52it's about inaction. Are people not having the courage to stand up and do the right thing? People

11:57that are bought and sold by the gun lobby instead of standing up and doing what they need to do to make

12:02sure that another eight-year-old or 10-year-old on the second or third day of school aren't going to lose

12:08their lives and that a family now has empty seats at the dinner table. That is what we're trying to

12:13focus on, the action piece of this. The conversation is long overdue, and we've been having it. But I

12:20will say the action piece and the components and the leadership that needs to step up, and instead of,

12:25you know, supporting a gun lobby and being bought and sold by a gun lobby, we'll look at their

12:30constituents, we'll look at these young lives that are being stolen every day, not just in school

12:36shootings like today's tragedy, even daily. There are young people that are being killed

12:40every single day, people being killed every single day in this country because of folks that don't

12:46have the courage to stand up and do the right thing when it comes to protecting our families

12:49from gun violence. Angela, I really appreciate the conversation today. I wish it wouldn't be in the

12:55wake of a tragedy, but I hope you can come back on and as we see developments, hopefully not every time

13:01there's a tragedy, but hopefully maybe we can talk about brighter news soon. Thank you so much for

13:06joining me. Thank you so much for having me.

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