Yesterday, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action (and many other advocates in between) came together for Virginia Advocacy Day 2026—A day filled with speeches, workshops, panels, meetings with lawmakers, and, most importantly, demanding action!
We kicked off the day with a rally at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square, featuring speeches from the Executive Director of Moms Demand Action, Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi, and local student leaders. The speeches celebrated that 20% of the current General Assembly is composed of former Moms Demand Action volunteers, as well as gun-sense champion Governor Abigail Spanberger’s recent win, victories that give Virginians a promising outlook for passing commonsense legislation and ensuring responsible gun ownership across the commonwealth—but there’s still more work to do!
According to Everytown for Gun Safety’s 2026 Support Fund report, Virginia is ranked #15 in the country for gun law strength, maintaining the same position as the previous year. Virginians know we deserve better. That’s why yesterday we advocated with our lawmakers to ask them to support legislation among four main categories: 1. Keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them, 2. Holding the gun industry accountable for its role in gun violence, 3. Promoting secure storage of firearms, and 4. Establishing a center for gun violence research. Student groups did this through one-on-one meetings with legislators to discuss our initiatives, and adult volunteers attended and spoke at legislative hearings—and it’s working!
Today, January 23, 2026, we learned that the Senate Courts of Justice committee will hold a hearing on Monday, January 26, at 8 a.m., featuring many pieces of gun-sense legislation, including a comprehensive assault weapons ban, prohibitions on ghost guns, enhanced background checks, and secure storage laws. If you couldn’t make it to Advocacy Day, that’s okay! You can send an automated email to lawmakers BEFORE MONDAY, JANUARY 26, to let them know that you stand in support of public safety!
Speaking of standing in support of public safety, yesterday I was especially thrilled to be on the Student and Youth Panel, a great opportunity for me to not only speak up, but truly be heard! For those who couldn’t make it, I have included a few of my key talking points below:
- I joined the gun violence prevention movement following being on the street at the time of the Allen Outlets Mall shooting on May 6, 2023, in Allen, Texas, just minutes away from my then-home and school. Following the shooting, I organized a walkout at my school as part of a Students Demand Action nationwide day of action, and have since felt called to continue advocating, becoming a member of Students Demand Action over three years ago.
- My top legislative priorities in Virginia are 1. Banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines (studies show that incidents involving assault weapons and high-capacity magazines both result in approximately five times as many people shot, according to Everytown for Gun Safety), 2. Banning firearms from all alcohol-serving institutions (Johns Hopkins found that around 30% of gun homicide perpetrators were intoxicated before their crimes), and 3. Revoking the Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act and replacing it with HB1314, which would demand transparency and accountability from our law enforcement officers.
- When I met the First Lady of Minnesota, Gwen Walz, at the Students Demand Action Summer Organizing Institute last summer, she said, “We are informed by facts, but empowered by our stories.” That perspective has really shaped how I approach gun violence prevention advocacy. Our lawmakers already know the facts, but what they don’t know are our stories, or the stories of those who are no longer with us to speak up for themselves—share your narrative, directly with your representatives or even online, to leverage change rooted in something more substantial than statistics: people.
- Historically marginalized communities, including Black, Queer, Latino, and Indigenous people, are significantly disproportionately affected by gun violence, and the gun lobby knows this, which is why these communities have been targeted for gun sales, marketing the idea that firearms are essential to self-defense. In fact, the Center for American Progress found that this “Manipulation of fear and perversion of self-defense has had a devastating effect of public safety,” and “by advancing this false narrative among the American populace and key voting demographics, the gun lobby has successfully blocked commonsense legislation while churning out a constant stream of messaging designed to increase American gun ownership and industry profits,” leaving our communities in an endless cycle of armed violence and legislative inaction fueled by monetary and political gains.
In between being a panelist, TikTok-ing with Mrs. Ferrell-Zabala, and meeting with my lawmakers, I also got to meet so many other incredible students! Seeing other young people in movements such as gun violence prevention is always simultaneously motivating and disheartening for me—I am glad to see youth finding their voice, but distraught that speaking up is also essential to our survival.
Yesterday, the Executive Director of Moms Demand Action asked me what a future free from gun violence looked like to me—the first thing I envisioned was a world where students would never have to be at Advocacy Day. Students should be hanging out with their friends and families, working their first jobs, or learning at school—not missing class to stand in their legislators’ offices asking them to vote “yes” on life-saving legislation before they’re even old enough to vote themselves. A future free from gun violence looks like guns not being the leading cause of death for American children and teens. A future free from gun violence looks like marginalized communities breaking out of systemic violence and sociopolitical oppression. A future free from gun violence starts with you!
Text “STUDENTS” to 644-33 or visit Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, or Everytown for Gun Safety to see how you can stop waiting for change and become the changemaker in the gun violence prevention movement!
—Lyn Jones
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