Celebrity Parents Speak Out Against Gun Violence
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
As common sense as it may seem to take any measure necessary to prevent children — and human beings of all ages, because this is an ongoing epidemic that doesn’t discriminate based on age — from being ripped apart by bullets while at school (or college campuses, grocery stores, movie theaters, churches, concerts, spas…), gun control laws still have yet to be passed in the United States.
According to Sandy Hook Promise, a gun violence prevention organization founded by parents of children murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, “948 school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012,” and as of 2020, “guns are the leading cause of death among American children and teens.”
As of December 28, 2022, the Gun Violence Archive recorded 641 mass shootings in the U.S. within the year, setting a record as the second-highest number of mass shootings in a single year in this country. The highest number of mass shootings in the United States’ history was in 2021: a terrifying, harrowing, nauseating 690 shootings. And yet… no actionable change in the arena of gun violence.
In fact, many celebrities are more outspoken about introducing gun legislation than politicians — the very people who have the power to enact lifesaving measures for the citizens they’re responsible for. Scroll on to learn which celebrity parents are using their platforms and voices to create awareness, increase education, and drive lasting, meaningful change as far as gun violence against children — and everyone else — goes.
More from SheKnows
Best of SheKnows
Jimmie Allen & All the Celebrities Who Welcomed Babies in 2024
28 Celebrity Parents Who Have Opened Up About Empty Nests & Empty Nest Syndrome
Shawn Johnson & Andrew East
Shawn Johnson and Andrew East were hugging their children a little tighter on March 27 following the Covenant School Shooting in Nashville. The Olympic gold medalist and former NFL player rushed to pick up their kids — Drew, 3, and Jett, 1 — when they got a notification of an active shooter in the neighborhood.
“Our family is safe but can’t imagine what some other families are going through,” East wrote in the caption of a reel that showed police cars rushing to the scene and community members comforting one another.
In one heartbreaking moment, Johnson hugs her daughter who asked, “Why are you sad?”
“I’m just really happy to see you,” Johnson said with a shaky voice.
In her Instagram story, Johnson shared that she hasn’t been able to catch her breath since reading the news of the shooting and getting the call about her children being in lockdown. “Shaking. Crying. Heartbroken. Horrific,” she wrote.
“Our babies are now home with us,” she continued. “I feel lucky and blessed but still so incredibly sad. No parent or family should ever have to deal with this. I’ve seen children’s ambulances, countless police cars, buses of children being transported to safety, parents flying down the street, laying on their horns, people springing in and out of churches and schools looking for their kids. Today has changed me.”
She then shared some of her husband’s footage of “all of the babies from the shooting being taken to safety” and tear-jerking photos of her crying while hugging her kids.
The Olympian concluded, “My mama heart is shattered you guys. You don’t ever fully recover from this. Thinking of these beautiful innocent babies, their families, the first responders, the teachers, everyone affected by today’s heinous acts. Helicopters are still circling. The silence in Nashville is very loud right now.”
Katy Perry
During an emotional American Idol audition, judge, singer, and mom of one Katy Perry used six words to perfectly and succinctly say what so many people feel about gun violence in America.
“Our country has f*cking failed us!” the singer yelled.
After belting out “Stone” by Whiskey Myers, Trey Louis told the judges he was a survivor of the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting in which eight students and two teachers were killed. Louis said he wanted to represent his hometown of Santa Fe, Texas, which has “had a bad rap” since the tragedy.
Perry bent over, held her head in her hands, and shook before siting back up, with tears in her eyes. “This is not ok! You should be singing here because you love music,” the judge continued before her next comments were bleeped out.
“I hope that you remind people that we have to change,” she went on to say, still visibly emotional. “Because you know what? I’m scared too.”
Her co-judges, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryant, had tears in their eyes and rubbed Perry’s arms. The three then each gave Louis an emotional “yes,” sending the 21-year-old onto the next phase of the singing competition.
Perry shared the clip on her Instagram with a simple caption: 💔
This is not the first time Perry has used her platform to speak out against gun violence. In September 2021, she consented to her song “Teenage Dream” being used for a Sandy Hook Promise PSA. The song was re-recorded by survivors of school shootings and was accompanied by a heartbreaking music video that shares each person’s story.
“For too many kids, The Teenage Dream is shattered by school shootings,” Perry wrote when she shared the video. “Gun violence shouldn’t be part of growing up. Please share this important PSA.”
Matthew McConaughey
Texas native, iconic actor, and father of three Matthew McConaughey spends a great deal of his free time advocating for gun control on behalf of families who have tragically lost children in mass shootings.
At the Sandy Hook Promise’s 10-Year Remembrance benefit, McConaughey gave a speech about how the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — where he grew up — has impacted him and his fervent desire to have gun violence prevention measures put into place nationwide.
“I am a father of three,” he said. “I was on the sidelines before Uvalde and then I got the call. I still see shock, confusion, the pain, the anger, the sadness, the grief, and the hopelessness. I find myself still asking the question, when is grace going to come, if ever?”
He continued, “There’s no better way to make the lives of the children killed in Sandy Hook and Uvalde and so many other mass shootings matter than to invest in saving the lives of more innocent children in the future. So, to the Sandy Hook Promise, thank you for making the commitment, contract, covenant to the promise to see the self-service through the service of your children and mine.”
McConaughey also put out a sobering statement on his social media channels the day of the Uvalde shooting, then gave a moving speech at the White House, during which he passionately scolded politicians for their selfish cowardice: “We got to get some real courage and honor our mortal obligations instead of our party affiliations — and enough with the counterpunching.”
President Barack Obama
Former President of the United States and dad of two Barack Obama also attended and spoke at the Sandy Hook Promise benefit. Having been president on the infamous December 2012 day that saw 20 children and 6 adults murdered at the Connecticut elementary school, and having traveled to be with the Sandy Hook victims’ families in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, President Obama’s speech came straight from the heart.
He began by sharing, “I still consider December 14, 2012, the single darkest day of my presidency.” Speaking to the parents of Sandy Hook’s stolen children, he said, “You made a solemn promise that you’d do everything in your power to make sure [other families] never have to experience what you and your loved ones did. You’ve made meaning where there was none.”
Applauding their approach to gun violence prevention, he continued, “Not by teaching kids to be fearful or suspicious of each other, their classmates, but by showing them from a young age how to be friendly and welcoming. How to empathize with one another, how to create inclusive communities.”
He concluded, “And by helping prevent the kind of social isolation that can lead to violence, is that your promise is not just making school safer today. You’re creating better people, better citizens, now and for generations to come. And that’s a remarkable achievement.”
Michelle Obama
Like her husband, Michelle Obama has used her massive platform as (former) First Lady to talk about the urgent need for gun control.
In 2013, following the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, the mother of two gave an emotional speech in her hometown of Chicago that signified her officially stepping into the gun violence conversation. She said, “Right now, my husband is fighting as hard as he can and engaging as many people as he can to pass common-sense reforms to protect our children from gun violence. And these reforms deserve a vote in Congress.”
Just two months prior to her speech, Mrs. Obama attended 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral. Pendleton was shot at a park in Chicago in January 2012 while taking cover from rain with her friends — they were mistaken as rival gang members. Three weeks before her death, the teen performed at President Obama’s second inauguration festivities as part of a majorette squad.
Mrs. Obama met with Pendleton’s friends and classmates in February of that year, remarking, “It is hard to know what to say to a roomful of teenagers who are about to bury their best friend. But I started by telling them that Hadiya was clearly on her way to doing something truly worthy with her life.”
Maria Shriver
After the Uvalde shooting, Maria Shriver used her social platforms to speak out. The mom of two shared on her Instagram, “This is devastating. This is a heartbreaking moment for every one of us who has to live in this country. This must stop each of us in our tracks. Each of us must do all we can to help our leaders who are in support of gun reform.”
She continued, “This is a stain on our country — a stain on all of us! We can’t hide behind second amendment rights, we can’t just say it’s just mental health. IT’S EVERYTHING, and IT’S UP TO EVERYONE! We’ve got to solve this now. Families are breaking apart. Lives are senselessly being lost. Everyone is susceptible. Every community, every event, every city is vulnerable. This should sicken each of us! We need reform now. We cannot wait. #uvaldetx”
Shriver questioned on Twitter the same day, “Why is such a weapon legal? What is happening to men and boys that so many are killing like this? Why can our elected leaders not pass anything that makes people feel safe, makes people feel hopeful, makes people feel like we are making progress?”
Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr, former NBA player and head coach of the Golden State Warriors, famously gave a passionate, emotional speech during a pre-game press conference. With a trembling voice, he asked, “When are we going to do something? I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I’m so tired of the excuse, I’m so tired of the moments of silence. Enough!”
He continued, “I want every person here, every person listening to this to think about your own child or grandchild. Or mother or father or sister or brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today? We can’t get numb to this. We can’t sit here and just read about it and go, ‘Well, let’s have a moment of silence, yeah. Go Dubs!'”
Kerr asked, “Do you realize that 90% of Americans, regardless of political party, want universal background checks? Ninety percent of us! We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put [the HR8 background check bill] to a vote, despite what we, the American people, want.”
Steph Curry
After Kerr’s impassioned speech, Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors point guard, said in his postgame interview, “For Coach to come up here and say what he said — every word that he said was powerful, was meaningful. I’ve got kids, send them to school every day, drop them off, and you feel for the parents that are going through what they’re going through. I can’t even imagine the pain.”
The week following the elementary school shooting, Curry wore a shirt emblazoned with “END GUN VIOLENCE” during pregame warm-ups prior to playing Game Two of the 2022 NBA Finals.
Maren Morris
Mama of one and vocal human rights activist Maren Morris took to Twitter after the Texas school shooting in 2022, writing, “18 elementary children… a small classroom size. Imagine you walk down a hall & an entire class… GONE. I’ve already lost track of which shooting happened even a year ago. The victim’s families haven’t and never will. At this rate, this kind of violence only happens HERE.”
LeBron James
The day of the Uvalde shooting, LeBron James tweeted, “My thoughts and prayers goes out to the families of love ones loss & injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX! Like when is enough enough man!!! These are kids and we keep putting them in harms way at school. Like seriously ‘AT SCHOOL’ where it’s suppose to be the safest!”
The dad of three continued, “There simply has to be change! HAS TO BE!! .. Praying to the heavens above to all with kids these days in schools.”
In 2015, a day after the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, the NBA player said during a media appearance, “Obviously you’re not going to be able to take every gun out, I don’t know how you can do that. There’s so many around now, today. But if there’s some stipulations behind it or some penalties, some big time penalties or rules or regulations about carrying firearms, legal or illegal, people will second-guess themselves.”
Kerry Washington
In reaction to the Uvalde shooting, actress and mother of two, Kerry Washington, tweeted, “As a mother, this is the tragically unimaginable. School should be a SAFE place. My heart breaks for the pain and suffering of every family member and loved one connected to today’s events in Texas. My prayers are with you 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾”
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian took to social media to share her extensive thoughts on the need for gun reform in the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Writing on Twitter, the mom of four reflected, “Five years ago, almost to the day, I wrote an essay for my blog about my thoughts on gun control in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. I asked, ‘Is it more important to protect the second amendment than to protect our own children?’”
She continued, “Yesterday 19 children were murdered by an 18 year old, and I find myself heartbroken, disgusted and furious about how little has been done by law makers to enact gun laws that protect our children. … Semiautomatic weapons, assault weapons, and weapons of war should not be legally sold or owned by American civilians. They should be banned. Period.”
Listing instance after instance of fatal gun misuse, the SKIMS founder wrote, “AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles were used in Newtown, Parkland, Aurora, San Bernardino, Orlando, Parkland, in the Buffalo shooting 10 days ago and reportedly in Tuesday’s shooting. Assault weapons are not a self-defense tool. They are sophisticated weapons, designed to kill.”
Kardashian also pointed out, “The legal age to purchase a firearm is also a serious issue and needs to be addressed and increased. The Parkland shooter, the Buffalo grocery store shooter, the Texas shooter: they were all under 21 and reportedly purchased weapons legally. These are teenagers. Someone who is not old enough to buy alcohol should not be allowed to purchase a firearm.”
“We can’t accept this as normal anymore,” she wrote. “It’s not normal for a teenager to kill children. It’s not normal for our kids to be practicing active shooter drills in schools. It’s not normal to be shot while shopping for groceries. … We can’t have another five years go by without effective, impactful laws put in place to protect our kids. We are parents, we are mothers, we are begging and pleading for action.”
Kardashian concluded, “Words can’t express my heartbreak for the parents whose babies didn’t come home from school. I’m urging our leaders to come together and put politics aside and put children first.”
Kourtney Kardashian
Virtually penning a message on her Instagram Story in response to the Uvalde shooting, Kourtney Kardashian wrote, “Schools should be a safe place where our kids go to learn, to make friends, to laugh, to grow, to discover themselves. A safe place where they can envision their futures. Not a place where their futures are taken away from them.”
The mom of three continued, “How have we gotten to a point where it is acceptable for our children to be murdered in schools? They deserve a safe place. They deserve protection. They deserve a FUTURE!”
“I cannot begin to imagine what these parents are going through. What those children and teachers went through. Imagine how terrified they must have been. It breaks my heart,” Kardashian wrote.
She concluded, “I plead with law makers to take accountability. We need a plan to protect our babies.”
Khloé Kardashian
Speaking out on social media just hours after the Uvalde shooting, Khloé Kardashian wrote “I can not comprehend today’s tragedy in our country. 14 children dead. How is this happening? My heart is breaking.” The mom of two continued, “I pray, I hope, I beg, I plead.. please law makers, government officials, leads of our country, do something to protect our children.”
She continued, “It was ‘enough’ ten mass shootings ago. It was ‘enough’ after Sandy Hook.” With stunning clarity, the mom of two wrote, “What good is protecting our freedoms when there is no protection of our lives?”
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel, a dad to four children, has frequently used his late-night show as a platform to plea for gun control.
After the Uvalde shooting, Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue about gun violence prevention measures, saying, “If your solution to children being massacred is armed guards, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on. There was an armed guard in Buffalo. There was an armed guard in Parkland. There was an armed guard in Uvalde. They had armed guards. … And these murders still happen.”
He continued, “And gun laws do work, by the way. Twenty-six years ago, Scotland had a school shooting that killed 16 kids and the teacher, and the government responded by enacting gun control legislation, and there hasn’t been a school shooting in Scotland since then.”
Kimmel offered another example, saying, “In 1996 in Australia, a mass shooting killed 35 people. They passed gun legislation; they haven’t had one since. This is the only country where this keeps happening.”
“Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children and teens. Number one,” he repeated with passionate emphasis. “This is not a time for moments of silence. This is a time to be loud, and stay loud, and not stop until we fix this.”
“There have been 27 school shootings this year in this country, and it’s May,” he exclaimed, shaking his head afterward, at a loss for what else to say. After pausing, Kimmel asked, voice trembling, “How does this make sense to anyone?”
