‘My Mom Could Still Be Here’: Activists Demand Support For Gun Control

Gov. Tony Evers wants lawmakers to take his gun control bills seriously, and on Thursday, he relied on activists to convince them.

Earlier this week, Evers called for a special session on two gun control measures: expanded background checks and an extreme risk protection order, or “red flag” law, which would allow a person’s gun rights to be suspended if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.

A special session is designed to force legislators to focus on an issue the governor considers important, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, but state Republicans are pushing back.

“Both of those, in Republican-controlled Legislatures, are non-starters,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said about the bills at a WisPolitics.com event on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, Evers stood in a church basement, speaking to members of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) before attendees headed to meetings with their representatives at the state Capitol.

Evers told the crowd that Republicans need to think about tragedies like the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“They need to do their job, bring these two pieces of legislation to a vote, and let the vote speak for itself,” Evers said.

Supporters of Evers’ measures say the bills have overwhelming public support. A Marquette University poll in August showed 80 percent of people in Wisconsin support expanded background checks, and 81 percent support a red flag law.

Khary Penebaker, a WAVE board member, said a red flag law could have saved his mother’s life.

“My mom, before she shot and killed herself, a month before she did so, she told her best friend that she wanted to die,” said Penebaker. “If we had an extreme risk protection order law in place, that would have enabled my family to remove the gun from her possession, and my mom could still be here.”

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes addressed the crowd after Evers. He accused Fitzgerald, who is running to fill retired U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s seat in Congress, of neglecting his constituents while he campaigns.

“He can’t be bothered with dealing with a special session on gun violence, an issue that affects so many people,” said Barnes. “You aren’t fit to protect the people in the state that you govern, you definitely don’t deserve to be in federal office.”

The special session is scheduled for Nov. 7.