Moms Demand Action Lobby Day Remarks

February 17, 2026 

Thank you Alisha, Alexa, Onica, Lisa and the many others who are part of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action for being here today.

 

Because of you and your commitment to your fellow Oregonians - our state is a safer place.

 

I want to thank the people who are here today to share their experiences of gun violence. You don’t owe us your stories, but with courage, determination and resilience you are sharing them with us anyway. Your gift to us is inspiring and we are grateful for it. Thank you.

Together, with your advocacy leading the way over the years, we have made so much progress:

●     We kept guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

●     We established a red flag law to get firearms out of the hands of people who are at high risk of doing harm to themselves or others.

●     We banned ghost guns.

●     And we required safe storage for firearms.

Last year, we passed the Community Safety Firearms Act which banned rapid-fire devices. These devices are designed for one purpose: to turn rifles and handguns into weapons of mass casualty. These are tools of war, and they don’t belong in our neighborhoods, our schools or anywhere in our communities.

You showed up. You testified. You organized. You didn’t let up when the fight got hard. You doubled down and got results. Because of your persistence, Oregon is safer. Thank you.

The progress we’ve made is impressive, but there is more work to do. I’m working hard to make sure House Bill 4145 passes this session so we can reliably implement the will of the voters with Measure 114 from 2022. We need to be ready when, hopefully, the court decides in favor of Oregonians who want safer communities.

The fight to end gun violence can feel endless. But our fight is bolstered by a simple and powerful truth: Every Oregonian deserves to live free of gun violence.

In this work, at this time, we are not aided by the federal government. In fact, the federal government is working against us in so many ways. They’re making our communities less safe and our neighbors more fearful. They want us afraid and demoralized. But we’re not going to give them what they want.

I won’t stop working to make Oregon a safer place for all of us. I know you won’t stop either. And being here today with you all, who are ready to advocate on behalf of your communities, gives me confidence we’re going to win this fight.

Thank you again for having me today.