Tamera Mowry-Housley breaks down talking about mass shootings: 'I don't want my niece to have died in vain'
Tamera Mowry-Housley opened up about her niece, who was killed in a mass shooting, on Thursday’s episode of “The Real.”
Mowry-Housley broke down talking about a controversial public service announcement on gun violence, revealing that she can’t bring herself to watch it. “I have chosen not to look at it just because I’m not ready right now,” she said. “But the reality is that you need to. I’ve experienced this in my life so I already know what it feels lie,” added Mowry-Housley, fighting back tears.
She also revealed she’s currently in therapy. “I’m getting grief therapy, and to move on I just have to compartmentalize my days,” she said.
“I don’t want it to get to a point that it has to happen to you so that you’re finally sensitive on the subject,” said Mowry-Housley. “I can only speak as a victim of this, but I don’t want my niece to have died in vain,” she added.
Mowry-Housley’s 18-year-old niece, Alaina Housley, was one of 12 people killed in 2018 when a gunman opened fire at a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Shortly after the tragedy, Mowry-Housley posted a tribute to her niece on Instagram, writing: “It’s not fair how you were taken and how soon you were taken from us.
Fellow panelist Adrienne Houghton used the conversation to call for tighter gun control and a ban on assault weapons. “The issue here is assault weapons,” said Houghton. “What you don’t need is a machine gun.”
Many viewers took to Twitter to applaud Mowry-Housley for being so open about her grief, and to echo Houghton’s call for gun control:
So many people feel the same way as you @TameraMowryTwo
Stop voting for Republicans!— Loser Lyds (@Lyds85) September 19, 2019
@TameraMowryTwo Thank you for grieving out loud on @TheRealDaytime - crying, wearing black, sharing the need for grief counseling... Your experience demonstrates who and what #gunviolence leaves behind and the pressing need for #guncontrol.
— Dr. Bisa (@DrBisa) September 19, 2019
@TheRealDaytime my 5 yr old started kindergarden and the only question he asked is what do i do if someone comes in school shooting? Broke my heart. This isnt what a 5 yr old should be thinking starting school.
— Christina monteiro (@Christinamon142) September 19, 2019
Others heard Houghton’s view on assault weapons and wrote to say they disagree that guns are the issue behind the violence:
We do not have a gun problem, we have a people problem. We also have a problem with the media glorifying the shooter. They shouldnt even be acknowledged in the story. It should be solely about the victims and who they are.
— Alanna Holcomb (@AlannaHolcomb5) September 18, 2019
How about condemning the person behind the gun that has no morals instead of blaming the gun. God has been taken out of schools and government, now we have a “Godless Society “ just what the liberals wanted!
— Marilyn Keller (@marilynkeller96) September 19, 2019
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