Mary Dieudonne-Hill, a mother who lives in south suburban Homewood, knows all about the pain gun violence inflicts on a family.
In 2016, her daughter, Alisia, was attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, she recently told me in an interview. “She was the last of five kids. She was the youngest. She had a very bright future. I invested a lot in my daughter. She did a cotillion. She had a scholarship for engineering in North Carolina A&T.”
On a terrible October night, Alisia, 19, was playing cards with friends at an off-campus party. A fight broke out. Someone started shooting. Alisia was fatally shot, along with another student, Ahmad Campbell, 21.
In the six years since, Dieudonne-Hill has fought depression, panic attacks, and at times was unable to work as a special education teacher. This year was the first time she was able to go Christmas shopping.
The Bible passage, Isaiah 54:17 — “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” — was an outlet for her anger.
“And that was my uplift to get started,” Dieudonne-Hill said. “And from that point on, I’ve been speaking out.”
She established a foundation in Alisia’s name to support scholarships for students who have experienced trauma through gun violence. She also joined Moms Demand Action, an advocacy group fighting to end gun violence. She speaks at events and meetings. She counsels and connects with an endless stream of friends, neighbors and acquaintances who have been traumatized by guns.
I asked her how many.
“Oh, a lot.” She cannot begin to count.
No one wants to count. The slaughter started long before Sandy Hook.
Ten years ago, on Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty were first graders.
Sandy Hook would surely be the end, I thought back then. Meaningful gun control would come. No.
Dieudonne-Hill is speaking out for Illinois House Bill 5855, also known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which the General Assembly may vote on early next year.
The legislation would ban assault-style weapons, raise the minimum age to obtain a firearm owner’s identification card to 21 from 18, increase resources to enforce red flag laws and stop the influx of illegal weapons into Illinois.
“This is crazy. I have brothers that have been in the military,” Dieudonne-Hill said. “These are weapons for military destruction. They are designed to kill, and kill fast. … They can fire 30 bullets in 10 seconds and hit a bystander a quarter of a mile away.”
The push to ban assault-style weapons and enact other gun regulation has failed for years. The movement has gained new steam after the July Fourth massacre in Highland Park, when a young man allegedly used an AR-15-style rifle to shoot and kill seven people and injure dozens of others at the city’s Independence Day parade.
This month, lawmakers held a series of hearings to listen to testimony from law enforcement leaders, gun advocacy groups, anti-violence activists, community leaders and researchers. The gun lobby is pushing back, arguing the proposed legislation is unconstitutional. At a Dec. 20 hearing, one longtime gun rights advocate vowed that if the bill passed, “We will see you in court.”
“Gun owners are tired of being blamed for every madman, every criminal and every other depraved act the 2.5 million gun owners didn’t do,” Todd Vandermyde said.
Gun control advocates’ rhetoric about assault weapons is “hyperbole,” according to National Rifle Association lobbyist John Weber. He said many of the guns identified in the proposed legislation are common and that about 20 million Americans own an AR-15-style gun, WTTW-Ch. 11 reported.
The bill would also ban magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. But those weapons should not be defined as high-capacity, Weber said.
“Many commonly owned handguns, for example, have standard magazines, which would be banned and do not have magazines with a lower capacity, rendering the gun obsolete,” he said.
“Ultimately, passing such a law is perilous for law-abiding gun owners,” Weber said. “These magazines are widely used by law enforcement for a reason: They’re effective tools for self-defense. Banning standard-capacity magazines would only serve to allow criminals to have the upper hand against law-abiding citizens in self-defense situations.”
Dieudonne-Hill has heard it all.
“I have people that argue with me about, ‘Well, our gun is our, you know, it’s our right, our constitutional right to bear arms.’ I have no problem with anybody bearing arms,” she said. “Bear your arms. But do we need automatic semis? Do we need AR-15s?”
She never thought gun violence would find her. She lives in a safe, middle-class suburb. The issue “didn’t affect me,” she thought.
“People may feel that because of their economics, they are exempt. You are not. You are not exempt,” she said. “I’m saying it will affect you. It’s not an ‘if.’ It’s a ‘when.’”
So get this bill done.
