Mother of On-Air Shooting Victim Joins Push to Require Same Checks Gunman Passed

On Mother’s Day, Barbara Parker–the mother of on-air shooting victim Alison Parker–will be joining Moms Demand Action to campaign for the very background checks that Alison’s attacker passed prior to getting a gun.

Alison was a reporter at WDBJ-TV in Virginia. On August 26 she and cameraman Adam Ward were shot and killed by Vester Lee Flanagan during a live television segment. Flanagan passed a background check to acquire his pistol from a gun store.

According to Newsweek, Alison’s mother — Barbara Parker — will be joining Michael Bloomberg-funded Moms Demand Action in New York City this weekend to march for more gun control on law-abiding citizens. The push for expanding background checks to cover more gun sales will be the focus.

Currently, background checks are only required at retail outlets–i.e., gun stores, Walmart, Cabela’s, etc.–but Parker and Moms Demand Action will be marching to expand those checks to cover private sales as well. In other words, they will be marching to require every would-be gun purchaser to pass the same background check that Flanagan passed to acquire his pistol.

Breitbart News previously reported that Gabby Giffords has also been campaigning for background checks since recovering from being shot on January 8, 2011. Giffords’ attacker — Jared Loughner — also passed a background check to acquire his gun.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.