When I picked up the phone on Black Friday in 2012, I knew, the way a mother always seems to know.
“Where is Jordan?” I asked, with pain and panic in my voice. “Where is my son?” I pleaded, praying for the answer I knew would never come again.
Jordan was sitting in the backseat of a car at a gas station, when a man pulled up next to them and didn’t like the loud music they were playing. So, he pulled out his gun, fired 10 shots at the car, hitting Jordan three times and killing my son.
Jordan was murdered by a man with hate in his heart. Murdered for “loud music.”
My goals in life were the same as many other Americans. I wanted to start a family and raise a caring, compassionate child. I dreamed of watching him walk across the stage at his high school graduation, full of wonder and hope for the future.
Now, I’m part of a growing club. I’m in that club with Trayvon Martin’s and Ahmaud Arbery’s families, who recently marked 10 years and 2 years without their loved ones. The club of parents who’ve had to bury their babies. The club no one ever wants to be a part of.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Right now, Georgia is in a gun violence crisis. In the last decade, gun deaths in Georgia have increased by more than 40%. These are more parents who send their kids off to school and never see them come home.
Gun violence stole my son’s life, and that violence, aided and abetted by dangerous “Stand Your Ground” or “Shoot First” laws, give people like Jordan’s killer – and Ahmaud’s killer, and Trayvon’s killer, and the killers of thousands more since lawmakers started passing these deadly laws – the idea that you can shoot first and ask questions later.
These laws are associated with more than 700 additional gun deaths every single year, but instead of repealing them, lawmakers here in Georgia are trying to make our community more dangerous. Right now, Gov. Brian Kemp is trying to pass permitless carry, a bill that would allow people to carry handguns in public with no background check and no questions asked.
Law enforcement officers across the country are staunchly opposed to these measures and have begged lawmakers to reject this dangerous legislation. They have voiced serious concern that permitless carry would make their jobs even more dangerous. States that have weakened their permitting systems have seen double-digit percentage increases in handgun homicides and violent crimes. And we know that when states have weak gun laws, they see more gun violence.
There are no actions that can bring back those we have lost to gun violence. Only time, wisdom, and the grace of God can begin to heal the anguish that so many families now feel.
Far too often we are told we must accept these tragedies. We are told that instead of changing our gun laws, we must have more active shooter drills.
More first graders coming home with tears in their eyes. Six-year-olds asked to decide for themselves whether they are more likely to survive by hiding in a closet, or if they should rush the gunman.
More mothers reading texts from their children locked inside a school that plead “Mom, if I don’t make it, I love you, and I appreciate everything you have done for me.”
But right now, millions of survivors across the country, survivors like me, are standing up and saying enough is enough. Law enforcement leaders, people of faith, doctors, are saying we are sick and tired of the death these gun laws bring.
This is not a partisan issue, nearly 70% of Georgians oppose these permitless carry laws, and Georgians everywhere are calling on their state lawmakers to turn their attention to measures that would actually keep us safe.
Legislation to improve background checks, or implement federal Extreme Risk laws, tools that would give loved ones and law enforcement the ability to get guns out of the hands of those who pose a risk to themselves or others.
When Jordan was murdered, I made a promise that I would act, that I would take that sense of protection, that love a mother has for her son and use it for my community. I’ll be in this fight for the rest of my life, the fight to keep others out of the club no one wants to be a part of.
It is time lawmakers across Georgia join this fight with us, join this fight on behalf of every family in our state scared to death of the pain gun violence brings. This is not just a policy proposal, this is something survivors have lived, and the lives of our loved ones are on the line.
Because I know the pain of losing a child, and no one should ever have to feel that pain.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath represents Ga.’s 6th Congressional District.
