The Stubborn Faith That Fuels a Leading Gun Safety Activist

In 2023, the United States reached a grim new record: There have been more than 36 mass shootings, more than any other year on record according to data from the Washington Post.

After each shooting, Angela Ferrell-Zabala rejects the inevitable chorus of “thoughts and prayers” — but not because she dismisses the power of prayer. Religion is the cornerstone of what drives Ferrell-Zabala to action as the first-ever executive director of Moms Demand Action, a network of volunteers working to protect people from gun violence and part of Everytown for Gun Safety. Yet she knows that faith without action isn’t enough to address the estimated 132 gun-related deaths in the U.S. each day.

“We need elected officials at every single level of government — from school boards to Congress — who have the courage to champion common-sense, popular, effective gun safety policies,” she told Sojourners via email. “But we also need to take a look at the violence that happens in disproportionately impacted communities, like young Black and brown neighborhoods, to understand and prevent the causes of violence. That comes from listening to the community organizers who have been working to heal trauma and provide violence intervention for decades.”

Inheriting a call to action

As a young child, Ferrell-Zabala saw her mother bring together their neighbors to protect themselves against an uptick in crime in their Philadelphia neighborhood.

“Instead of waiting for someone to come fix the problem, my mother, who gets this from my grandmother, just jumped into action,” Ferell-Zabala told me in an interview.

As a Black woman and mother of Black children, Ferrell-Zabala isn’t about to sit back and watch given “guns are the number one killer of young people in this country,” she said — especially since Black children and teens are 20 times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white peers.

“I’m a lifelong community organizer, and I felt called to leverage that experience to help solve a crisis that causes so much tragedy, yet is so preventable,” Ferrell-Zabala said about the gun violence issue.

She’s worked for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration reform, before joining Everytown for Gun Safety in 2019, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization. In April, she became the executive director of Moms Demand Action, where she leads the network’s grassroots advocacy.

‘Beautiful interruptions’

And for Ferrell-Zabala, all this work isn’t just talk. She recounts an incident in October 2021 while she was in a CVS with her son, and they heard a man threaten to “blow the cashier’s head off.” The man mentioned something about his grandfather dying. He eventually left the store and no one was physically hurt. Ferrell-Zabala immediately saw the man when she and her son exited the CVS. She handed her son the car keys and ventured alone to approach the would-be shooter. “I am so sorry for your loss. I want you to be OK,” she told the man.

Startled, the man looked at Ferrell-Zabala before she opened her arms and they cried together, she said. During the drive home, she told her son that God had put her there — and she was glad.

Ferrell-Zabala said it wasn’t the first time she had an experience like that. She views them as “divine acts,” “whispers,” or “beautiful interruptions.”

“I feel that I am supported [with the whispers]. I feel like I am ready. It’s hard to describe these very personal moments and put them into words that maybe everyone would understand, but I feel fortified at the same time that I’m getting these messages that remind me of my purpose,” Ferrell-Zabala said.

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A multi-racial, multi-faith family

Growing up, Ferrell-Zabala saw the nuns at her Catholic grade school in Philadelphia show up for their communities by feeding the poor and opening their doors for people with fewer resources. From that, Ferrell-Zabala learned an important lesson about her religious purpose:

“You can’t be comfortable until you are actually exercising your faith, which means that I am looking out for my community,” she said.

But Ferrell-Zabala, who is the oldest of three daughters, grew up with influences from multiple faiths. Her mom was raised Episcopalian, her grandfather was Baptist, and her godfather was Jewish; her uncle practices Buddhism and one of Ferrell-Zabala’s sisters is Muslim.

“It wasn’t until I was in high school, I realized not everybody had multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-ethnic, even immigrants in the family… culture and religion was always a part of me growing up,” Ferrell-Zabala said.

Even at a young age, Ferrell-Zabala glimpsed throughlines connecting all these seemingly contradictory faiths.

“Peace and community and love, those are the three things that ring out across traditions, like looking out for your neighbor, looking out for your family, making sure you’re caring for a stranger. There is no such thing as a stranger, really when you think about it through all these different [religious] texts,” she said.

Today, when asked about her religious identity, Ferrell-Zabala identifies as Christian, though she notes her deep appreciation for Judaism and Islam given so many people she loves and cares for follow those religions. She and her wife are raising their four kids to be compassionate and ethical people — regardless of whatever religious tradition they gravitate toward. Prayer continues to be a grounding practice for Ferrell-Zabala:

“[Prayer is] really asking for what I need. Sometimes it is about being thankful for what I have and that I’ve made it through something difficult. But, oftentimes, it may be, ‘Look, I’m doing everything that I think I’m supposed to do and please lead me. If there’s something that I’m missing, please shine that light,’” she said.

Faith in the work ahead

As Ferrell-Zabala knows all too well, working on gun control weighs heavily on people of faith and organizers alike. In the immediate aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022, when a teenage gunman killed 19 children and two adults, Ferrell-Zabala had to spring into action, connecting with Everytown for Gun Safety’s partners and also urging stakeholders and the public to take measures against gun violence.

But at home, later that night, Ferrell-Zabala had time to catch her breath. As a mother, she felt especially affected.

“I let out the deepest wail and cry,” she said. “The pain of that was unimaginable, and it feels like we’re working so hard and there's a lot of progress being made. But when life is stolen like that, particularly when you think of children, it’s so hard to wrap your head around that,” Ferrell-Zabala said. “I had to really sit and contemplate: What does this mean? What is my purpose? What am I even doing when you turn on the news and this is the kind of thing that you hear?”

And while news coverage of mass shootings can be overwhelming, Ferrell-Zabala knows there’s plenty of gun violence that never makes the news, including suicides, domestic violence, unsecured firearms, and unintentional shootings.

“A lot of the communities that are experiencing disproportionate impact — and I’m just going to name it — are communities of color. They’ve been historically under-resourced, underrepresented, and marginalized, frankly,” Ferrell-Zabala said. She pointed to poverty, difficulties around accessing jobs, housing, and education as factors that breed gun violence.

“When this just goes unnoticed, when folks aren’t taking the time — especially when you think about elected leaders — to really dig into the problems that are in these communities, then this is what you’re going to see,” she said. “I’m not surprised by it but it’s frankly frustrating.”

But Ferrell-Zabala knows there are people stepping up to fill this void. She points to California where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in September that doubles the tax on firearms and ammunition. No other state has a tax like this (though, the governor admits it may not survive legal challenges levied by the Supreme Court).

Other wins Ferrell-Zabala notes include a new proposed rule by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would require people who sell guns commercially to obtain a federal license and, therefore, have to conduct background checks on their customers. Some sellers currently don’t have a license (though, by law, they’re supposed to), such as some who sell guns online or at gun shows. Ferrell-Zabala says this will move the country closer to universal background checks.

She’s also energized by the work her own organization has done. Everytown invested over $1.5 million into a media campaign before Election Day this November in Virginia. The digital ads highlighted Republicans on the ballot who oppose what Everytown calls “common-sense gun safety laws.” Seventeen Moms Demand Action volunteers who ran for office won.

And when another cycle of gun violence rolls in, Ferrell-Zabala believes faith leaders have an especially critical role.

“They are oftentimes the moral authority in community spaces… They often are on the frontlines, working with communities whether in times of celebration and joy, the birth of a child, a wedding, a graduation,” she said. “They’re also there on the other side. They’re consoling families in grief, people who have been lost, particularly people taken by gun violence.”

But when the moments of grief pass, Ferrell Zabala knows many of these faith leaders will put their faith into action, using that same moral authority to advocate for stronger gun laws and urge politicians to take action to stop future shootings.