'Moms Demand Action' NC chapter sees uptick after school tragedy

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) -- Not even 72 hours after the deadly Parkland, Fla., shooting, the North Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action has seen an increased interest from women looking to become involved.

"With Moms, people see our history and they see that, 'Wow, Moms are getting things done in other states. Moms are winning. And Moms are defeating bill after bill and getting good bills passed," said KaKi McKinney, co-chapter lead for North Carolina.

She said there are six North Carolina groups in the process of being formed. Those locations include Fayetteville, Greensboro, Kinston, Rockingham County, Hickory, and Spencer.

By McKinney's count, there are about 3,000 members for Moms Demand Action nationwide and 370 in the Raleigh local group.

"We are gathering together and deciding we are done. Enough is enough," McKinney said. So much in fact, the group is launching a campaign called "Throw Them Out." The goal of the campaign is to vote out any politician who the group feels does not support common-sense gun laws.

"We are going to vote out anyone who takes money from the gun lobby or who will not say we will vote for gun sense laws," she said.

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Oftentimes, McKinney said the phone rings and the emails begin to pile up in her inbox of people wanting to become involved by marching in the streets, but those efforts have turned out to be ineffective.

"What we have found is that we marched after every (shooting) and no change has happened. But when we vote, change happens," she said.

As for criticism of Moms Demand Action by opponents, McKinney said the group is pro-Second Amendment and is made up of bipartisan women.

"Guns are not our God-given rights. Our constitution is not God's word. That was written by people as they formed our country. The Bible is God's word," McKinney said. "I think it's going to take people understanding that we are not asking for your guns. We are not saying that everyone needs to turn in your guns now. We are not saying that. We do not want that. All we want is that the guns you do have, keep them safe."

On Saturday, the Durham local group is holding a meeting at a private residence that requires an RSVP to attend. Sunday, the local group in Orange County is holding a similar event. These meetings will be followed by the Raleigh local group's Monday meeting that is open to the public. It will be held at Cameron Village Library from 7-8 p.m.

Raleigh attendees will get a chance to hear from a survivor of gun violence and discuss ways to make an immediate change with regard to gun safety.

McKinney also said the group will be registering "gun-sense voters" on Monday.