'I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore': Community comes out for gun violence awareness

• The Jacksonville chapter of Moms Demand Action held a memorial service on June 6 to support victims of gun violence.
• Event attendees shared stories of their loved ones killed by gun violence, highlighting the issue's personal impact.
• Moms Demand Action volunteers advocate for gun reform at the federal, state and local levels.

Katie Hathaway joined Moms Demand Action when her son, then 7 years old, told her his classroom would be the first victims in a school shooting because it was the closest to the front entrance.

“That was alarming to me,” she said, gathered with several others for the June 6 National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the beginning of Wear Orange weekend. “I knew I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore, and I had to do something.”

Since then, Hathaway and her fellow volunteers have worked to end gun violence, from unintentional shootings to suicide to homicide. In 2022, they successfully advocated for the Duval County School Board to pass a resolution requiring the superintendent to notify families yearly of the importance of locking up guns. It was the first resolution of its kind in Florida. Hathaway said strengthening storage laws, in homes and cars, is a sensible step to prevent injury and death.

The weekend served as an opportunity to honor victims and survivors of gun violence. The Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action — a nationwide organization that advocates for preventive measures at the federal, state and local levels — organized ­­the event. Attendees wore bright orange, a color adopted by the movement to end gun violence due to its association with hunters and gun safety.

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Moms Demand Action also go to Tallahassee to advocate gun reform to lawmakers. Volunteer Sally Ogburn went to Florida’s Capitol this past April, two weeks before the Florida State University shooting that killed two people and wounded six others. With her, Ogburn brought a notebook full of newspaper clippings of local shootings.

She had the notebook on June 6, too. She flipped through the pages, landing on a story of a toddler accidentally shooting themselves in the head. Ogburn asked: When will enough be enough?

Moms Demand Action has observed National Gun Violence Awareness Day in the past with park cleanups and donation drives. But Hathaway said that, this year, they chose to center the day on gun violence survivors.

“We wanted to provide community and space for them to lift up the names of their loved ones and share stories of those that we’ve lost — recommit to turning our grief into action,” she said.

Volunteer Jean Francis led a memorial service for those killed by gun violence, inviting participants to share their loved ones’ stories: a cousin shot by the father of her daughters; a loving son shot two days after his 18th birthday; a man killed six days after his brother left for army bootcamp.

Kathryn Belina hugged a sign that read “RIP HEIDI” above a photograph of a woman that Belina considered to be her sister. Heidi Barron was vivacious, Belina said. Barron loved pit bulls, especially her own, Lola. She had an infectious laugh.

On April 25, Belina and Barron were on a video call together. Belina received a link to the camera feed for Barron’s front door at her home in Tampa. Barron’s ex-husband was there. Belina could see him walking around to the back of the house. Then, the video went dark. It was 9:31 p.m. Three minutes later, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a call about shots being fired. Barron was dead. The next day, her killer committed suicide.

Belina had attended previous events with Moms Demand Action, but that had been in support of the other, directly affected members.

“Now, I’m here for a different reason,” she said. “It’s a different lens I’m looking at, now that I’ve lost a family member to gun violence.”

Belina said she plans to join Moms Demand Action in their trips to Tallahassee more often, specifically to address how to prevent domestic violence perpetrated through guns. Beyond the group’s advocacy work, Moms Demand Action fosters a community within Jacksonville for victims and survivors of gun violence.

“It’s nice to have this space where we can come and know we’re not alone,” Belina said.