Jenna Fischer Says Promoting Gun Safety Is Her Calling

Jenna Fischer was recently abroad visiting London with her family, where she was working on You, Me and the Apocalypse, but she ultimately returned to her home in the United States, which Jenna confesses to missing greatly during her time away. Upon returning, however, Fischer was faced with news of another shooting, this time at a Lafayette, Louisiana theater, during a showing of Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck. Now, Jenna is on a mission to ensure a safer future for her children and for everyone.

Jenna Fischer Says Gun Safety Is Her Calling

Talking of her time in London, Jenna says it was an exciting adventure for the entire family, but she says getting back home to America was always on her mind. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fischer shared her feelings of being homesick for America while attending the 2016 Brady Center Brady Bear Awards Gala. The event was planned to honor Plan B Entertainment co-president Dede Gardner and philanthropist David Bohnett for their work in gun violence prevention and also recognized President Bill Clinton for his contribution to gun safety by awarding him the James Brady Leadership Award.

“I just felt scared and sad that was happening in my home,” says Fischer in speaking of the Louisiana theater shooting. “This place that I couldn’t wait to get back to was having these problems.”

Jenna says she was inspired by the shooting and immediately set to the task of researching gun safety laws in the United States, beginning with familiarizing herself with the Brady Bill, which requires federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States. Through her research, Fischer found out that gun purchases made online and at gun shows aren’t subject to the rules set forth in the Brady Bill. Determined to see that loophole eliminated, Ms. Fischer contacted the Brady Center.

As Jenna became more and more involved in the issues surrounding gun violence in the United States, she was alarmed to learn that accidental shootings of children by other children are widely prevalent in America and that such incidents happen because guns aren’t safely stored by the children’s parents.

“No parent should have to lose a child, and no parent should have to lose a child because of a gun that was in their home, that they put in their home that their child found accidentally,” says Ms. Fischer.

Jenna Fischer Takes A Stand As A Parent Against Gun Violence

Jenna is no longer blind to the issues of gun safety, and she says that part of being a responsible parent is questioning other parents on their gun ownership and storage practices.

“When my child goes on a playdate, I ask the parents, ‘Are you a gun owner and how do you keep your guns stored?’ I need to know that in the same way that I need to know if they have a fence around their pool so my kid doesn’t fall in.”

Some might say that Jenna Fischer is on a mission, and she would agree with that. She says she’s determined to ensure that adults and families with small children take the appropriate steps in storing their firearms.

“Someone else has been called to work on the problem of homelessness or to work on the problem of not enough people having clean water, and these are all worthy causes,” Fischer said. “If we all say yes to those callings, then we make the world better for everyone. So this is my yes.”

Fischer isn’t alone in her mission to educate the public on gun safety and to see that better laws are passed. Following the Trainwreck theater shooting, Amy Schumer also expressed her sadness and shock concerning the incident. Schumer has also said that she would lobby for stronger gun control laws.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]