Columnist Susan Snyder: The March of the Million Moms

Sunday, April 30, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

Sabina Duke figured her days as an activist were pretty much past.

She's 59 and she's done that -- civil rights, equal rights, pro-choice, anti-war.

"I'd gotten to the point where I am tired," the Boulder City resident said.

Yes, but not too tired. Next month Duke will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Million Mom March, which happens on Mother's Day, May 14.

Her activist leanings were stirred last year during a panel discussion at her high school reunion.

"One of the speakers was a priest. She said we're sending our children out into society much the same way miners sent canaries into the mines, and they're dying from the toxicity of the society," Duke said.

They're dying, she said, at the hands of people with guns. The Million Mom March is designed to garner support for tougher gun ownership laws.

A New Jersey mom came up with the idea for the march last August as she watched footage from the shooting at California's Granada Hills Day Camp. She created a nonprofit group, launched an Internet website and planned the event that is expected to draw thousands.

The website, millionmommarch.com, includes hundreds of comments from mothers who have lost children or are afraid of losing them to gunfire. They want cooling-off periods and background checks at gun shows.

They're calling for handgun locks, licenses and registrations for gun owners, and one-per-month purchase limits.

"It's not about taking the guns away from people. It's just common sense," Duke said. "We've lost kids right here in Las Vegas."

Marchers had hoped the Mother's Day event would be a victory march in celebration of more stringent federal laws. But Congress didn't pass such measures this year, so the event is now a rally, Duke said.

Locally, Million Mom Marchers are staging their own Mother's Day rally from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Children's Memorial Park. That's at the corner of Gowan Road and Rainbow Boulevard, said Kerrie Hoopes, the Las Vegas mother in charge of the event.

"There are a lot of mothers -- and I've heard from a lot of fathers, too -- who can't go to Washington. They can't afford it or whatever," Hoopes said. "I figured I'd run with it."

The full-time, stay-at-home mother of three says her concerns rise with each new report of gun violence involving children. She rattles them off like a grocery list.

Granada Hills, Jonesboro, Columbine, the National Zoo.

"Columbine. Oh my gosh, I sat there in complete shock and amazement crying my eyes out. Those poor kids," Hoopes said.

Growing up never seemed more frightening.

"My daughter is 11, and she goes from elementary school to middle school (later) this year," she said. "I don't want to wait around for some horrific event to happen to her or to one of her friends. Why sit around and wait until I am a victim to stand up and say something?"

Come Mother's Day Hoopes will stand with other mothers and fathers and call for celebrating and protecting the children we have here and now.

And they'd rather do it with a rally than a wake.