Condolences, thoughts and prayers following a tragedy like the one Wednesday in Winder at Apalachee High School have never really been enough.
Time after time and tragedy after tragedy, the politicians who consistently vote against or block sensible gun safety measures react with solemn voices and the same tired platitudes for the victims and their families.
Those thoughts and prayers are as empty as spent shell casings when not accompanied by strong resolve to change policies and work toward solutions which actually protect schoolchildren and teachers like the four who were killed in Winder on Wednesday.
Georgia’s gun culture is deeply embedded. Republicans passed an open carry law in 2022. More than 100 licensed firearm production plants call Georgia home, with some manufacturers receiving local or state tax incentives for job creation. Businesses which combine a local pharmacy and gun store under the same roof dot Georgia’s rural landscape. Republican Congressman Andrew Clyde, a gun store owner, is known for distributing assault weapon lapel pins to his colleagues.
Over the years, Georgia WIN List endorsed legislators have proposed common sense gun safety measures such as assault weapon bans, expanded background checks, waiting periods for gun purchases, red flag laws, closing the loophole on gun show sales, secure storage mandates, and other measures which would make Georgia’s schools and public spaces safer. With a trifecta of Republican power firmly in place, those measures rarely see debate or even a hearing. Several currently serving legislators and 2024 endorsed candidates became politically active as advocates for gun safety measures with groups such as Moms Demand and Everytown for Gun Safety.
Reproductive freedom, not the promotion of sensible gun safety legislation is the lens for a Georgia WIN List endorsement. However, our mission also focuses on “recruiting, training, supporting electing and re-electing Democratic women to statewide and legislative office who will be effective advocates for the issues most important to women and families, including the preservation of reproductive freedom.”
Mothers and grandmothers calm frightened children following classroom gun safety or lockdown drills. Mothers and grandmothers worry whether the children they send to school each day will return home safely. Wednesday’s tragedy in Winder brings the very important issue of gun safety closer to home for all Georgia women and their families.
When you don’t like the laws, change the lawmakers.
Georgia WIN List has endorsed a record setting 77 women for House and Senate seats this year. Both chambers currently controlled by Republicans, but FLIPping seats narrows the margins of control. See the entire list of endorsed women here and click on candidate websites to see where they stand on issues which are important to you like gun safety.
FLIPping seats from Red to Blue by electing more Democratic women who care deeply enough about the lives of Georgia’s women and families to push for sensible gun safely laws, is the best possible way to make the Republicans who currently wield power in Georgia pay attention to the changes you want to see. FLIPping seats in significant numbers will “scare” Republicans into working across the aisle on sensible gun safety measures.
