The McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America chapter is holding a rapid response gathering Wednesday following last weekend’s two mass shootings.
Karen Irvin co-leads the local anti-gun violence group. She said the event is to grieve the 31 lives lost in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and to remember that gun violence happens locally too.
“Most gun violence happens outside of the realm of a mass shooting,” Irvin told WGLT. “And while it is a small sliver of what we are working to end, the daily gun violence that kills more than 100 people a day in our country is what we're working towards.”
She said the group will also educate attendees on prevention.
“We will be congregating and having a chance to share our collective grief and our collective outrage that this continues to happen. And also, educate people about the fact that this gun violence is a problem on a daily basis," she said.
Irvin said the national Moms Demand Action organization is encouraging members to reach out to and call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call two bills that would strengthen background checks for a vote. The measures have already passed out of the U.S. House.
The event is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the McLean County Museum of History.
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