Local Moms' Petition Turned Away at NRA

A group of moms and supporters trying to deliver a petition to the National Rifle Association headquarters Thursday in Fairfax were reportedly turned away by NRA officials.

Members of Moms Rising, the Reston-Herndon Alliance to End Gun Violence, Million Mom March and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense attempted to deliver a petition with more than 150,000 signatures to the office and were turned away in the parking lot.

The petition asks the NRA leaders to reassess their position and stop standing in the way of common sense gun reform.

Herndon's Gloria Pan, a local member of Moms Rising, said about 50 or so people joined in on the delivery and protest effort. Pan said Moms Rising also sent invitations to the NRA to sit down with the group’s leadership for a discussion but received no response.

Pan said NRA leadership is one of the biggest obstacles in the country to meaningful gun safety reform.

The NRA could not be reached for comment at press time Thursday evening.

When Moms Rising and other supporters arrived at the NRA offices they were stopped in the parking lot and were not allowed to speak with a representative or go into the building.

Pan said the printed petition, which is more than 1,000 pages long, was brought to the NRA offices in strollers. She said they’d hoped to give the petition to someone at NRA, but were instead asked to leave, and the petition was not accepted.

Eventually the group was told if they did not leave the police would be called to escort them off the property.

“We thought they would at least be cordial and let us deliver our petition, but they wouldn’t even let us do that,” Pan said. “The thing is, we’re just moms. We’re just moms and family members who are very concerned about gun violence and would like to see some common sense change to reduce gun violence.”

Pan said Moms Rising still has the petition and they will still try to provide it to the NRA. She said the members of the organization who have signed it want the NRA to know how they feel and they have a responsibility to get the petition to the NRA.

Moms Rising will continue to try to contact lawmakers at the local and national level to let them know its members are concerned about gun safety and that they expect them to make things better, Pan said.

“The thing that really, really concerns us is that gun violence has really become such a problem in our society and we just can’t let it become the new American normal,” Pan said. “Gun violence cannot be the new American normal.”