INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- We are grateful that tonight in his State of the Union address, President Obama called again for Congress to pass a comprehensive gun violence prevention package to help protect American families. There is much work we need to do as a country, but nothing is more important than the safety of our children and families.

As President Obama said tonight, "…what I've said tonight matters little if we don't come together to protect our most precious resource – our children." 

The First Lady's selection of Cleopatra Cowley as her guest tonight was especially poignant – the nation's most recognized mother sitting with the mother of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl whose life was cut short by gun violence a week after she performed in the President's inauguration ceremonies.

Mothers like Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Cowley must continue to lead the change in America. For too long, the conversation about gun violence in America has been controlled by those who stand to profit from easy access to guns. In the meantime, American families continue to be destroyed by gun violence. Mothers have had enough, and we will no longer stand by and let Congress turn its back on sensible gun laws.

The President recognized tonight that, since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Americans are finally coming together around common-sense gun regulation reform. In fact, there is a new groundswell of mothers who are organizing to effectively pressure Congress into passing sensible gun laws now to protect our families. The momentum is with us, and we are in this for the long haul at both the federal and state levels.

Tonight, we remember all the victims of gun violence and their families, and we will remember how our representatives vote on stronger gun laws when we go to the polls. American mothers are an important voice that, when harnessed, will wield significant change. In just two months, One Million Moms for Gun Control has established nearly 80 chapters across the United States and we have tens of thousands of members. We may be accidental activists, but we are the wave of change in America.

Shannon Watts, Founder of One Million Moms for Gun Control

www.onemillionmomsforguncontrol.org

https://www.facebook.com/OneMillionMomsForGunControl

SOURCE One Million Moms for Gun Control