John, when you think about gun safety, you probably don't think about Wyoming.
We have the smallest population of any state. And when it comes to gun violence, we have the 7th weakest gun laws, the highest gun suicide rate, the highest number of gun dealers per capita, and the 3rd highest rate of gun deaths in the country.
Oh, and former President Trump polls better here than anywhere else.
The odds, to say the least, are stacked against us. But instead of accepting defeat, we've risen to the challenge—and we're winning.
The Wyoming Chapter of Moms Demand Action has proven that no matter where you live, you can help create real, life-saving change. Join us today by signing up to volunteer with Moms Demand Action in your community.
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2023 has been a big year for Moms Demand Action volunteers in Wyoming. We defeated every one of our priority bills that we came up against this session. At one point, there were seven bills being heard across three different committees—all scheduled the same day—and we showed up to testify in opposition.
But we didn't stop there.
Despite our size, we've established ourselves as a national leader in our movement for our work with groups disproportionately impacted by gun violence. Just last week, the Wyoming Chapter hosted a screening of "Who She Is," a documentary about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Nearly 200 people from 37 states showed up to learn about these women's stories and how to take action in their local communities.
From its biggest cities to its smallest towns, we've made our presence felt across our state. In Cheyenne and Laramie, we had our first in-person Wear Orange events since before the COVID-19 pandemic. And in places like Torrington (population 6,000), we held Be SMART events to encourage people to securely store their firearms. Helped by local suicide prevention organizations like Grace for 2 Brothers and the state's office of Veterans' Affairs, we've distributed gun locks and worked to address the state's firearm suicide crisis.
We didn't accomplish all of this progress overnight; it's taken years of hard work and determination from volunteers and partners to get to this point. As we often say in this movement, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And we're not alone: We're just one of the 51 Moms Demand Action Chapters doing this work across the country to make sure our communities are safe.
We still have a lot of work to do, but if we can accomplish real change here, I know we can create a future free from gun violence for everyone, in all 50 states.
Be a part of our work to end gun violence: Sign up to volunteer with Moms Demand Action today.
Thank you for helping build this movement. Together, we will save lives.
Jeremy Slaughter
He/Him/His
Senior Organizing Manager
Moms Demand Action
