VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – “How does a six-year-old gain access to a firearm? How does a six-year-old gain access to a firearm?”
That was the refrain from southern Virginia Beach as two members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America met with 10 On Your Side to discuss legislative and educational priorities in Virginia.
In advance of the interview, 10 On your Side had advised Susan Loesberg and Pat Gadzinski, the discussion might have to be rescheduled in the event of breaking news. Minutes after the conclusion of the interview, news quickly spread that a mass shooting had taken place at an Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee.
As the tragic news spread across the country and the globe, Loesberg issued a statement to 10 On Your Side, just as authorities in Nashville revealed a heavily armed woman from Nashville is the person who opened fire and that she was later killed by law enforcement officers.
In a statement, Loesberg wrote:
“Our hearts are with the victims, survivors loved ones and the Nashville community as a whole. Yet another senseless act of gun violence. As a country, we are failing our children by not taking action to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have access to them.”
According to Newport News police, the child who opened fire on his teacher used his mother’s gun. Sadly, the family access connection is not unique, according to Loersberg.
Pat Gadzinski and Susan Loesberg of Moms Demand Action met with 10 On Your Side to discuss legislative and educational priorities in Virginia. . 
Pat Gadzinski and Susan Loesberg of Moms Demand Action met with 10 On Your Side to discuss legislative and educational priorities in Virginia. . 
Pat Gadzinski and Susan Loesberg of Moms Demand Action met with 10 On Your Side to discuss legislative and educational priorities in Virginia. .
“We have 4.6 million children living in homes with unsecured firearms,” Loesberg said. “Three out of four school shooters are obtaining their firearms from their parents or from relatives.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, gunshots are now the number one cause of death of youth between the ages of 1 and 19.
To prevent these deaths Moms Demanding Action is promoting simple safety tips.
“This basically reminds us to secure it, the firearm [should be] separately locked secure and the ammunition[is locked] separate,” Gadzinski said. “We don’t want people who shouldn’t have access to guns to have access.”
There’s a mass shooting on a near-daily basis in America, according to the Gun Violence Archive, and 10 On Your Side shares those stories of lives lost in shootings. Moms Demanding Action are there to uplift the families affected by daily violence.
“We have great community partners,” Gadzinski said, “women who have chosen to take the deaths of their son or daughter or brother or aunt and put purpose to that.”
