‘Time Is Now On Our Side'

A Mother Of The gun Control Movement Was Elected To Congress. Can She And Her Allies Change Washington?

- Bill Powell

In early January, less than a week after Democrats took control of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood before a podium and made one of her highest priorities clear: gun control.

It was the eighth anniversary of a grim day in modern American history—the shooting that nearly killed then-Representative Gabby Giffords at a constituent event in Arizona. “It’s a day of grief,” Pelosi said at a crowded press conference in the Capitol, “but also a day of action.” She introduced Giffords, who now runs a political action committee dedicated to gun safety, and veteran Representative Mike Thompson of California, the chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Congress, they say, must pass legislation to expand background checks before gun purchases.

But then Pelosi did something unusual: She turned to acknowledge one of the newest members of the House. Lucy McBath, 58, had never been a politician before. She had worked as a flight attendant and human resources executive for Delta Air Lines in Atlanta for 30 years. But everyone in the room knew why she was there. She had recently marked her own tragic anniversary.

More than six years ago, McBath got the phone call; a police officer on the line said things that no parent should ever hear, but which far too many in the U.S. now do. Her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was dead. He had been riding in a car with friends when they got into a dispute with someone over whether they were playing music too loudly. A trivial, stupid argument over nothing. Davis was shot and died instantly. “Background checks save lives,” McBath told the crowd on Capitol Hill. “I ask my fellow parents, my fellow members, and my fellow Americans to stand with us today.… Together, we will make our community safer, and the country deserves it.”