A Year After Pulse Shooting, Family Keeps Fighting to Change Gun Laws
Maria and Fred Wright want guns kept out of the hands of terrorists
By Noreen O'Donnell ••
Before Maria Wright's son Jerry was killed in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, one year ago, she had done little to try to change the country's gun laws.
Horrified by the bloodbath at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and other mass shootings, she had donated money and had signed petitions but that was it.
This time when she got an email from Everytown for Gun Safety, she wrote back immediately: "They killed my son. What can I do?"
Jerry Wright and and his sister, Aida
"Because I felt like I should have done more before," she said. "And I didn't and now I've lost my son. I'm going to do what I can so this doesn't happen to anybody else."
Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire during the gay club's Latin night in the early morning a year ago, killing 49 people with an assault rifle and a handgun before being killed himself. Jerry Wright, who was in the Pulse nightclub celebrating a friend's birthday, died in the carnage.
Jerry Wright, one of the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016, is represented in a painting done by his sister, Aida.
A licensed, American-born security guard, Mateen was able to buy his weapons legally, though the FBI had investigated him twice, inconclusively. On the day of the attack, Mateen, whose wife, Noor Salman, was later charged with obstruction and aiding and abetting her husband, pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State on Facebook.
Today Maria Wright and her husband, Fred, are trying to convince lawmakers that they must do more to keep the country safe. The Wrights, who live in Miami, want laws to prohibit people like Mateen, who had been on the FBI's terrorist watch list from 2013 to 2014, from being able to purchase weapons. And they want everyone to have to undergo a background check.
"Our laws did not stop him at all," she said. "He was able to go in and kill and maim so many so quickly."
Jerry Wright, 31, worked at Walt Disney World, in merchandising on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom and in Tomorrowland. His mother said he was sweet, kind, thoughtful and helpful.
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(Left-Right) Michael and Zachary Houston from Boston, MA, celebrate their one year anniversary by attending the the March for Equality in Washington, DC, June 11, 2017.
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Nathan Ward and Amrafel Rodriguez (L-R) visit the memorial to the victims of the mass shooting setup around the Pulse gay nightclub one day before the one year anniversary of the shooting on June 11, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
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Orlando Pride Supporters march on the anniversary of the Pulse Shooting during the WPSL soccer match between the Orlando Pride and the Boston Breakers on June 3rd, 2017, at Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
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Marchers gather under a large rainbow flag at the start of the March for Equality in Washington, DC, June 11, 2017.
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Marchers pass the White House during the March for Equality in Washington, DC, June 11, 2017.
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Jose Ramirez who survived the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub reacts as he visits the site one year after the shooting on June 12, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
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World-renowned artist Megan Geckler unveils "49" at the Human Rights Campaign on June 9, 2017, in Washington, D.C., transforming its headquarters into a beacon of hope and resilience in honor of Pride and the one-year mark of the deadly attack at the Pulse Nightclub.
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Gil Mendez, of San Francisco, holds a sign to honor the victims of the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, as he marches during the Equality March for Unity and Pride in Washington, June 11, 2017.
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Teresa Jacobs, Mayor of Orange County, Florida, looks over artifacts left as memorials in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shootings, at the History Center in Orlando, Florida on June 9, 2017. The memorial items are being preserved and will be displayed in the 'One Orlando Collection' at the center, along with a digital gallery, as a historical record for current and future generations.
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Activists hold a banner in front of the Pulse nightclub site after a news conference in Orlando, Florida. The owner of the Pulse nightclub said the site will become a memorial and a museum to honor the 49 people who were killed and the dozens more who were injured.
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Pulse sympathizers dressed as angels stand in front of the Pulse nightclub site, May 4, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
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Christopher Cuevas, founder of the support group QLatinx, spends time at Lake Eola park in downtown Orlando, Florida. A year after the Pulse Nightclub shooting, the city's gay Latinos are trying to build up their community by forming support groups, seeking seats at the tables of power and creating a foundation to champion gays and Latinos.
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A visitor stands at the memorial to the victims of the mass shooting setup around the Pulse gay nightclub one day before the one year anniversary of the shooting on June 11, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
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Marchers at the start of the March for Equality in Washington, DC, June 11, 2017.
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A museum goer looks at a painting by artist Luis Cruz Azaceta titled "ORLANDO," which commemorates the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, May 4, 2017, in Miami. The pop art painting is punctuated by 49 dots, each honoring a life lost in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The painting is part of a larger exhibition by the Cuban-born artist titled Dictators, Terrorism, War and Exiles.
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Brian McDonald, visiting from Frankfort, Kentucky, writes a personal message on a section of the makeshift memorial outside the Pulse nightclub on June 9, 2017.
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Isaac Zralii and Andi Miller (L-R) visit the memorial to the victims of the mass shooting setup around the Pulse gay nightclub on June 11, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
"I want him to be remembered as someone who actually modeled that behavior, of being a part of his community, of being a good neighbor, being a good friend, a good son, a good family person," she said. "That's how I want my child to be remembered."
His behavior is motivating theirs now, she said.
The Chicago Bulls are going through a tumultuous time at the moment, with players speaking out in print and on social media, and Friday saw more fireworks as the team addressed the media at the Advocate Center ahead of their game against the Miami Heat.
Immediately after the Orlando shootings, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country's history, the U.S. Senate rejected four measures that would have restricted gun sales.
"What am I going to tell the community of Orlando?" Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said after the votes, according to Reuters. "Sadly, what I'm going to tell them is the NRA won again."
Maria Wright remains convinced that most Americans would change the country's laws so that terrorists could not buy weapons. And she believes that many lawmakers would take action if they knew how many of their constituents wanted them to.
President Trump has hinted at additional U.S. airstrikes if the use of chemical weapons continue.
"Which means that we have to also look at ourselves and what we can do," she said. "But I'm not going to sit here and say that they're all terrible human beings and not a single one them gives a damn that my son was killed, because that's not the case."
She said she has had lawmakers, both Republican and Democratic, tell to her to be persistent.
Fred Wright said that he and his wife would continue to do what they could to make the changes happen. They are not going to stop, he said.
"We just want to honor our son in the best way possible," he said.
