By Kathianne Boniello
The Queens chapter of the Million Mom March Foundation has some new resources to rely on with the recent merger of the national Million Mom March group and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Queens chapter president Joan Gold said this week.
The Washington, D.C.-based Brady Center, founded by Jim and Sarah Brady, gives the grassroots Million Mom March a powerful national backer, Gold said.
“It’s a real perfect marriage,” said Gold, of Little Neck. “We’ll work together but still maintain separate fronts. We will be a strong force” for the prevention of gun violence, she said.
Gold helped form the Queens chapter of the Million Mom March in 2000. Today the Million Mom March has 230 chapters nationwide, while the Brady Center has no local groups.
Jim Brady, an assistant press secretary to former President Ronald Reagan, was shot in the head during the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan. Since the incident, he has been confined to a wheelchair and he and his wife Sarah have founded the center to fight gun violence.
The Queens chapter, Gold said, will now have significant resources of information to draw from as it continues its quest against gun violence.
On May 14, 2000, Mother’s Day, hundreds of thousands of mothers and their families from across the country journeyed to Washington, D.C. for a march in support of what the group describes as “common sense gun control.”
The Queens delegation sent between 2,000 and 3,000 people to the nationwide march. Since then the group has held voter registration drives, hosted a candidates’ night and conducted a candlelight vigil outside the Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Flushing, where five workers were shot to death execution-style in May 2000.
On its web site, www.millionmommarch.com, the organizers of the group describe their mission as one of “educating our children and our country about the life-threatening danger of guns.”
“While we acknowledge that guns may be necessary for hunting, law enforcement and national security,” the web site said, “the proliferation of firearms intended for one purpose only — killing another human being — has become untenable.”
Gold said the Queens chapter continues to seek out new members and plans to hold a fund-raising/membership drive flea market in Glen Oaks in October.
“If gun violence were a disease, there would be all kinds of people calling for new medicines,” she said.
Anyone who would like to ask questions or join the Queens chapter can do so by calling (718) 781-4971 or e-mailing MMMQueensmom@aol.com.
Those wishing to donate to the group can sent their contributions to: Million Mom March Foundation, P.O. Box 309, 176-25 Union Tpke, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
