Mother of Orlando victim makes impassioned plea for common sense gun laws
The mother of a man killed in the Orlando, Florida, shooting at Pulse nightclub in June spoke at the Democratic convention Wednesday, and her words were a devastating call for common sense gun laws.
Christine Leinonen, whose son Christopher “Drew” Leinonen was killed in the attack, fought back tears as she talked about her loss. Christopher was her only son, she said, and she told him "You can't do better than perfect."
Drawing attention to the rapid fire of many assault weapons, including the firearm used by gunman Omar Mateen in the massacre, she contrasted the time it took to kill 49 people with the time it took to honor their memory.
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"The weapon that murdered my son fires thirty rounds in one minute," she said. "An Orlando city commissioner pointed out the terrible math: One minute for a gun to fire so many shots; five minutes for a bell to honor so many lives."
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Leinonen also asked the audience a difficult question: "Where was common sense gun reform the day my son died?"
Her final message, however, was one of hope.
"Christopher's paternal grandparents met and fell in love in a Japanese interment camp, so it was in his DNA that love always trumps hate," she said to massive applause.
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Not every network was covering the speech however.
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After Leinonen spoke, and before the relatives of people killed in the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and Charleston, South Carolina, shootings followed her to the stage, the crowd rose as one in a standing ovation.
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Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head while meeting with constituents in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, also took the stage with her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. They have since become vocal advocates for gun control, founding the Americans for Responsible Solutions political action committee.
"Speaking is difficult for me," she said in her remarks, embedded below. "But come January, I want to say these two words: 'Madame President.'"
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Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
