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Gun Control 18:0
was of far more modest proportions. It featured none of the prominent
speakers of the march, with the keynote address given by Texas State
Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp. The Sisters claimed to have raised
$40,000 and communicated with about 35,000 people, and on event day
they reported 1,000 to 3,000 attendees. 166 A Washington Post journalist
estimated that half of these were men. 167 Interaction between the two
opposing marches was limited to a few verbal confrontations.

Impressive as the size of the Moms’ march was, especially in comparison
with the Sisters’ countermarch, the aim of persuading Congress to pass
tougher federal gun laws was a tall order, even following on the heels
of the Columbine shooting that had left fifteen dead in April 1999. The
number of major gun control laws passed by Congress in the last fifty
years can be counted on the fingers of one hand with a single digit to
spare, and these occurred in clusters: two major laws in 1968, and two
again in 1994. 168 Following the Columbine shooting, a number of public
officials made predictable public gestures in favor of stronger gun leg-
islation. A bicameral study group of women in the House and Senate
formed, issuing calls for new legislation and endorsing the Million Mom
March effort. 169 President Clinton called for stronger gun legislation in
his State of the Union Address in January 2000, proposing national li-
censing of gun owners. On May 9, shortly before the march, Senator
Dianne Feinstein introduced a registration bill that had no chance of
success.

“tensofthousands.”Also,estimatesofthenumberoflocalMillionMomMarchrallies
throughout the country vary according to the source; on May 9 – a few days before
Mother’sDay – areportinthe Washington Post said that there would be events in
sixty-three cities. See Levine, “Pro-Gun Women to Counter ‘Million Mom’ Message.”
166
Afterward they cited a police estimate of 5000. See Second Amendment Sis-
ters, Inc., “Rally Reports,” undated (2000), http://www.sas-aim.org/rallyreports/
WashingtonDC.html;Levine,“Pro-GunWomentoCounter‘MillionMom’Message.”
167
Carol Morello, “Victims Aim to Save Rights and Themselves,” Washington Post,May
15, 2000, p. A15.
168
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, the Gun Control Act of
1968, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and the Brady
Handgun Violence Protection Act of 1994.
169
U.S. House of Representatives, “Congresswoman Morella and the Million Mom
March Call for Passage of Gun Safety Legislation,” press release, Sept. 23, 1999,
Washington, D.C.; U.S. Senate, “Senator Mikulski, Other Women in Congress Get
Tough on Guns: House, Senate Women Gather to Coordinate Gun Control Strate-
gies,” press release, May 20, 1999, Washington, D.C.; statements were also posted at
the web sites of Senators Barbara Boxer, http://www.senate.gov/∼boxer, and Diane
Feinstein, http://www.senate.gov/∼feinstein.

171