A horrible thing happened in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. The events at Sandy Hook Elementary School have resonated ever since throughout the country, shocking all of us out of any complacency about gun safety. One of the people most affected was Erica Smegielski. Erica’s mother, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, was the principal of Sandy Hook School. She was shot and killed along with five other educators and 20 first grade students during the shooting on December 14, 2012, while she tried to attack the shooter to protect the school’s students. Dawn was a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Erica first became involved with Everytown in the follow-up to the vote on Manchin-Toomey, when she was actively pushing for the legislation. Erica is on staff at Everytown as a Partnerships Manager. She has authored numerous Op-Eds supporting common-sense gun legislation, and has spoken at fundraisers all over the country. She also famously called out Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) for refusing to support the Manchin-Toomey bill.
Whether or not you saw her speech during the Democratic National Convention, you certainly have been affected by her ongoing work at Everytown to bring common-sense change to our current network of state and federal gun safety laws.
1. Unlike politicians and artists on stage, you aren’t a professional speaker. How did it feel to be up on that stage, knowing that millions of people were watching? What has the post-convention reaction been like?
To be honest, I was psyching myself out up until I got on stage, knowing Michelle Obama and Joe Biden and the president were all speaking on the same stage. There was the overall buzz, the people, Sen. Chris Murphy, the feeling I had to be perfect. … But once I was on stage, I wasn’t nervous. I could see some people I knew, and I could just talk and give my message.
Afterward, there was the media scrum, the bullpen and all, but my boss from Everytown was there, my husband was there, and I just felt with them there I was home.
2. It remains unfathomable that even after the events of Sandy Hook, Congress was unwilling to reconsider access to deadly weapons. How did that failure of Congress to pass any meaningful gun reform affect your resolve to carry on this fight? Were you tempted to give up at any point?
Back in 2013 when the Manchin-Toomey background check bill was up for a vote in the Senate, I knew it wasn’t going to pass right before the vote, but I was prepared for it, and prepared to start taking it to the states if we couldn’t get things done at the federal level. At the time, I was working with Mayors Against Illegal Guns (now part of Everytown), and my colleagues convinced me that even though it didn’t pass, it was big just to have brought it to a vote. It was important to me because they convinced me to trust them, to trust others, and trust that this was a marathon and eventually we could get things passed.
We took it to the states. With the momentum from Sandy Hook, Connecticut did things on its own but with work from all of us, we now have upcoming ballots in California (large-capacity magazines), Washington ( guns out of the hands of people who are considered threats), Nevada and Maine (background checks). We can get things done at the state level, and that means a lot. (Read more here on the ballot initiatives.)
It will have to be done at the state level until we can change Congress and that means confronting people in Congress that are blocking this, and eventually replacing them.
3. If you had the power to dissolve the NRA and the Republican Party decided to look out for people, rather than gun manufacturers, what would be your ideal America look like in regard to gun ownership?
We have a 2nd Amendment and there’s a long tradition of guns in this country. Places like Australia, where my sister-in-law lives, have handled things differently. I don’t want to be embarrassed by how we do things here. I want to be proud of this country. I think the real key there is gun owner responsibility. With the rights we have comes responsibility. That means things like being responsible for locking ammunition up and securing guns and keeping them away from children so we don’t have to read about tragedies in the news every day.
4. We don’t live in a world where we can dissolve the NRA, and the GOP unfortunately remains a force. So given those realities, what gun safety law would be your first priority? Assault weapons? Universal background checks? Magazine size? No fly-no buy? Which gun safety law do you think is the most likely to pass?
Background checks, first and foremost, along with making sure the systems and technology are there to make them work.
Also important is not allowing guns in sensitive places like schools.
There’s also corporate responsibility so I don’t have to see an AR-15-carrying woman in Target or some other store and have to explain the presence of the gun that killed my mother to my family.
As to what’s likely to pass, background checks and laws associated with terrorism are most likely, but however long it takes, we need to realize there’s no one law that will change everything and make everyone safe.
5. The polls show overwhelming support for more gun regulation, even among gun owners, even in deep red states. Congressional Democrats this year tried to force votes on new gun laws, but the Republicans control Congress, and they refused to act. Can you explain why a Hillary Clinton presidency with a Democratic Congress would be an opportunity to break the NRA’s power, once and for all, and finally make real progress toward stemming gun violence?
Honestly, I think Secretary Clinton just gets it. She’s met with us, she’s listened to us. She gets the importance of what we are doing and has ideas on how to get these things implemented. She understands our loss. I hate to use the word “empathy” but I think she really understands.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, treats guns like a joke. “If I shot someone on 5th Avenue, they’d still vote for me,” and all that. If he could only sit at my kitchen table and see the empty chair where my mother used to sit maybe he’d have a better understanding of what this is all about.
6. A bonus question if you don’t mind: It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of our never-ending stream of gun-related atrocities. What can ordinary citizens do to further the cause of gun reform?
Vote. Just vote. It’s the most important thing people can do. Pay attention. Talk to people about background checks and gun safety. Voting is a right and we have to use it, it’s just as much a right as 2nd Amendment rights. Here in Connecticut only 20 percent of voters voted in the primaries. We have to raise that number. We have to participate. Every vote matters and we can make a difference.