Local advocate continues campaign against gun violence

Leslie Washington, an area survivor of domestic and gun violence, is on a mission to raise awareness for the sixth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week.

This year, it will be held from Monday, Jan. 22, to Friday, Jan. 26. It is normally held the first week of February.

The week is organized by Everytown for Gun Safety. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg founded this advocacy group, which promotes gun control and campaigns against gun violence, in 2013.

Washington is involved in local chapters of both Everytown and its subsidiary organization Moms Demand Action.

Gun violence survivors do not have to be those injured in a shooting, she said. They can be those who have lost loved ones to firearms, through suicide or homicide, or those who have been threatened with guns.

"(Gun violence) doesn't just tear apart the family and the friends; It leaves a lasting impact on the community in which we live in," Washington said. "... I amplify those that have been impacted and are too afraid to use their voices."

She said the main way people could help end gun violence in the Southeast Missouri region is to be forthcoming about what they see and hear in relation to potential shootings.

"If you see something, say something," she said. "A lot of times people are afraid to say anything because they're afraid of retaliation."

It's a situation she herself has had to navigate since moving to the area.

Washington left St. Louis for Cape Girardeau in 2013 to escape an abusive husband. In addition to physical and emotional abuse, he threatened her with firearms.

That, along with one cousin dying to a gun homicide and another cousin using a gun to commit suicide, led to her working to stop gun violence.

She has spoken with legislators about the issue, both in Jefferson City and in Cape Girardeau.

In 2020, then-Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox established Gun Violence Survivors Week in the city.

"I just am passionate about the education and awareness that we need to have in our communities," Washington said.

She said her local Everytown group would start coming up with plans for National Gun Violence Survivors Week during its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 11.