Advocates rally to urge Senate to act on background check legislation for gun purchases

Gun control advocates rallied outside the Westchester County Courthouse Thursday to push the U.S. Senate to pass legislation requiring background checks on gun purchases.

News 12 Staff

Apr 8, 2021, 9:31 PM

Updated 1,284 days ago

Share:

Gun control advocates rallied outside the Westchester County Courthouse Thursday to push the U.S. Senate to pass legislation requiring background checks on gun purchases.
Their calls come as President Joe Biden enacted executive actions to address gun violence in the wake of several mass shootings.
Nadine McKenzie, who was at the White Plains courthouse with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, signed a mural headed to Washington, D.C. in the hope that another parent won't know the pain she does.
In 2016, her 13-year-old daughter Shamoya McKenzie died after being caught in the cross hairs of gun violence in Mount Vernon.
"We were on our way home from basketball practice, and this happened to her and she was a special child," she says.
The groups Mom Demand Action and Students Demand Action are on a nationwide road trip, calling on the Senate to pass two bills that would require background checks on gun purchases.
"Shamoya's life matters, and other parents' children's lives matter, and I'm here to make sure we think about the people," says McKenzie.
New York has some of the strictest gun reform laws, but Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah says national laws are needed.
"Guns don't care about borders, guns travel across borders. I know that from being a federal prosecutor, I know that from being the district attorney," she says.