Gun safety advocacy group sees increased membership in Alaska

The Alaska chapter of a gun safety advocacy group has seen substantial growth in the past month since the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. More than 400 new people statewide have signed up to join Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

“We had quite a few in our major cities, like Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks. I saw a lot in Wasilla, which is exciting, and also Big Lake and Homer,” said April Rochford, co-lead of the Alaska Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “There’s always a bit of an influx of interest after a high-profile mass shooting, especially one that involves kids.”

Prior to Uvalde, the Alaska chapter had about 1,000 statewide members with local groups in Anchorage and Juneau. Recently, two new local groups have formed in Fairbanks and Skagway.

“We don’t have a lot of members in Western Alaska or rural Alaska, and that’s a piece that’s really missing,” Rochford said.

More membership means more volunteer power. Rochford said members are calling U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski “non-stop” to advocate for a gun safety package that would enhance background checks, fund mental health and school safety programs, as well as other measures responding to mass shootings.

Though the state has had isolated incidents of mass shootings in the past few decades, Alaska had the sixth-highest rate of gun deaths in the nation in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions has Alaska ranked second highest in the U.S. for gun suicide rate. Of the 175 total gun deaths in Alaska in 2020, 22 were among children and teens ages 0-19, also according to the report.

Rochford was part of a group of about 20 Alaskans – including a pastor, teachers, school board members and gun owners – who met with Murkowski on June 16 over Zoom. One of them was Anchorage teacher Sarah Glaser, who wrote an opinion piece published in the Anchorage Daily News Monday. In it, Glaser identifies herself as a “mom, teacher, responsible gun owner and veteran.”

“I have experience with M-16 and M-9 weapons and understand the strict regulations and protocols concerning firearms in the military and on base, which unfortunately do not resemble gun ownership or regulations in the civilian sector,” Glaser wrote. “Guns are the largest common factor in gun violence and mass school shootings. Gun reform is essential if we want to change this outcome. Gun reform, not more school training nor other more outlandish school responses, has the potential to prevent future death.”

What’s next

Rochford said volunteers will also be needed for the upcoming election season. Moms Demand Action sends out a questionnaire that helps determine if candidates in federal and state level elections are “gun sense candidates.”

“Anybody that qualifies, I’ll be organizing our members to help get them elected,” Rochford said.

For the next legislative session in Juneau, Rochford said Moms Demand Action plans to continue advocating for a secure storage bill. Fairbanks Democrat Rep. Adam Wool sponsored House Bill 203, which aimed to require guns be secured in a locked container. It had one committee hearing in House State Affairs. Wool is not running for reelection.

Another gun safety bill, House Bill 122, was introduced in 2021 but never saw any hearings. Anchorage Democrat Rep. Geran Tarr sponsored House Bill 122. Commonly known as a “red flag law” or ERPO for “extreme risk protection orders,” it sought to implement gun violence protective orders, which would allow law enforcement officers to petition a court to remove guns from a person in crisis. Tarr is running for the state Senate.

“I anticipate us at least putting our full effort behind the secure storage bill, if not the ERPO,” Rochford said.

Even with the substantial growth in membership around the state, Rochford recognizes it takes a fair bit of bravery to come out as an activist around the issue of gun safety in Alaska. It has one of the highest gun-ownership rates in the country.

“A lot of people get upset and get mad and want things to be different. But unless we actually take the time out of our lives and do the work that’s required to change, it’s not going to.”