Ten Questions For: Shannon Watts

The iconic crusader against gun violence on women-led activism, building sustainable movements, and where there has been real progress on gun sense.

It’s been a minute since I’ve published a 10 Questions For. Honestly, life got away from me. But I’m thrilled to bring this interview series back with the iconic Shannon Watts, one of America’s most influential activists against gun violence. Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action, a group that brings mothers (and others) together in the fight against America’s obscene epidemic of firearm deaths and injuries. She is also on the board of Emerge, which recruits and trains women to run for office. And she’s on Substack, so do follow her there as well.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Shannon’s work. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children, and the rates of gun deaths that we see in the US are unparalleled in any other peacetime democratic nation. Because of our shockingly lax gun laws, America is an incredibly dangerous, deadly place. And because of Shannon and all those she has rallied to join her, we may someday be a safer and more secure society.

Shannon spoke with the newsletter on how she helped to build a women-centered movement for common-sense gun laws, what her prominence has meant for her personal safety, and what might be next in the long fight to end gun violence.

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Jill: Tell us a little bit about what you do and why. Where did Moms Demand Action come from? What has it evolved into?

Shannon: I started Moms Demand Action in 2012, the day after the horrific mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. What I thought was just going to be an online conversation about the need to change gun culture and laws in America turned into the largest offline volunteer movement in the nation. Today, the organization is focused not just on mass shootings -- which make up about 1 percent of the gun violence in America -- but the daily gun violence that kills over 120 people and wounds hundreds more. And we're not just moms anymore -- we're also students and survivors and any American who cares about this crisis. This is my last year as a volunteer leader for Moms Demand Action -- my colleague Angela Ferrell-Zabala, who is now our Executive Director, will lead the organization going forward. And starting soon, I will be a local, but vocal, California Moms Demand Action volunteer. 

Jill: Why is your work, and the work of Moms Demand Action, important in the world? What gap are you filling? Where have you seen successes? (Yes, it’s ok to brag about yourself). 

Shannon: When I started Moms Demand Action, there was no tangible or empowering way for women across the country to band together and act on the issue of gun violence. There were Washington, DC, think tanks (mostly run by men) and some city and state organizations (also mostly run by men). I wanted to be part of a badass army of women -- the same kinds of armies that had demanded the right to vote, fought for civil rights, made drunk driving culturally unacceptable, and exposed the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.  Today, Moms Demand Action has over 10 million supporters and a chapter in every state, and our volunteers have stopped the NRA’s priority legislation in statehouses roughly 90 percent of the time every year for the past decade; passed over 500 gun safety laws across the country; changed corporate policies; educated millions of Americans about secure gun storage; and elected hundreds of volunteers to office. In 2022, we helped break through the logjam in Congress and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first federal gun safety bill in 26 years. And hundreds of our volunteers have run for office and won -- from Congress to statehouses to school boards to city councils.

Jill: Walk us down your career path. How did you get here? Which choices / jobs / people helped you get to where you are? Where did you have to make tough decisions, or take big risks, along the way?

Shannon: I went to college to become a journalist, but untreated ADHD made it impossible to pass statistics. So after graduating with a degree in Sociology, I went into public relations and learned how to craft a message, tell a story and build a brand -- all crucial skills that helped me successfully launch and grow Moms Demand Action. After a 15-year career in corporate communications, I took a five year break to remarry and blend our family of five kids. It was at the end of that break that I started Moms Demand Action, and I went from driving kids to soccer games to being busier than I'd ever been in my life. Looking back, I'm not sure how I managed become an expert in a complex issue while managing a new organization of volunteers while also taking the incoming arrows from gun extremists and lobbyists. Every day felt like a risk -- mentally and physically. But at the same time, what was the other option? Doing nothing simply wasn't an option. For the last 11 years, due to threats of death and sexual violence to me and my kids, I've traveled with a security guard who's job is to get me to the closest hospital if something horrible happened. That's a weird way to live as a full-time volunteer leader, but it also points out the perversion of this issue in our nation.

Jill: Tell us about the choice to frame your activism through the lens of motherhood. I'm really interested in this because on the one hand, groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving have had huge successes, and leaning into the mom identity can imbue activist groups with a sense of moral authority. On the other hand, the idea that moral authority accrues from reproduction strikes me as a little reductive; plus moms -- who are often middle-aged women -- are routinely ignored and mocked. Where did the decision to lead with moms come from? Where have you seen power there? Where have there been perhaps unanticipated downsides?