Half Moon Bay nonprofit founder Belinda Hernandez Arriaga was amongst a whole bunch of leaders who attended the signing of a gun violence government order by President Joe Biden on the White Home Thursday afternoon.
The order creates an “Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force” to focus on machine-gun conversion gadgets and untraceable, 3D-printed firearms. It additionally directs federal businesses to supply colleges with steering on energetic shooter drills to scale back potential psychological hurt to college students.
Arriaga was invited by the White Home in recognition of her work supporting survivors of the tragic Half Moon Bay mass taking pictures in 2023, which left seven folks useless and one severely injured after a disgruntled employee opened fireplace at two separate mushroom farms. She stated she wished to attend the White Home occasion with different victims of gun violence to characterize the voices of the Half Moon Bay mass taking pictures victims.
“It was emotional meeting all the other victims from around the country,” Arriaga stated. “I felt like crying, knowing that this isn’t about me, it’s about the families who have been suffering so much.”
Arriaga and ALAS (Ayudando Latinos a Soñar), the nonprofit she based, have supplied emotional and materials assist to households affected by the mass taking pictures, by means of advocating for gun violence prevention and farmworker rights. Based on the group’s web site, its broader objectives embody “uplifting and empowering” Latino communities in Half Moon Bay and close by areas in coastal San Mateo County.
Over a 12 months after the bloodbath, Arriaga stated survivors and group members affected by the violence are “continuing to work on healing.”
“This is going to be a long process, a long journey — emotional, psychological healing — and many of them are still just in the very early stages of it,” she stated. “So we need to have continued support for victims services and mental health. They need continued care. And then at the same time, housing is a big issue.”
The shootings unveiled substandard dwelling circumstances of farmworkers in coastal San Mateo County. However the push for extra farmworker housing tasks has been met with resistance by some residents who say they’re involved about overdevelopment of their metropolis.
Upon arriving on the White Home, Arriaga stated she known as survivor Pedro Perez to let him know their voices had been being heard on the White Home.
“I instructed him, ‘Pedro, you are here in this moment, and I want you to know we are not going to forget,’” Arriaga said.
Perez lost his brother in the shooting.
“I also called other families in Half Moon Bay that have suffered beyond our farmworker shooting, and we have to remember,” she said.
The new firearms executive order comes a year after Biden announced that Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, would oversee the nation’s first federal gun-violence prevention workplace.
“More background checks (are now required) for firearms sold at gun shows,” Biden stated.
Nonetheless, mass shootings proceed to occur with regularity.
Prior to now month alone, 4 folks had been killed in a mass taking pictures in Winder, Georgia, and one other 4 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Based on gunviolencearchive.org, there have been 406 mass shootings to this point this 12 months.
“The trauma from this epidemic (of gun violence) is both immediate and long-lasting,” stated Harris, who took time without work the marketing campaign path to attend the signing of the manager order. “If we don’t take the visible and unseen injuries seriously, it will continue to linger for a lifetime.”
Whereas Arriaga is hopeful it is a step in the suitable path, she believes it’s nonetheless incumbent on the general public to carry officers accountable for his or her guarantees on stopping gun violence.
“We need to ensure those we elect are committed to stopping gun violence, removing weapons from the streets and finding creative solutions,” Arriaga stated. “It’s crucial to hold our elected officials accountable by meeting with them and sharing stories. Ultimately, they make the laws and have the power to bring about change.”
