News
First Lady Offers Solace to Families of Gun Victims
T
eressa Raiford was
one of a group of peo-
ple who have lost
loved ones to gun violence
who went to Washington
DC last week to meet legis-
lators and attend the State of
the Union address. The
business consultant and
community activist says the
highlight of the trip was a
visit with First Lady
Michelle Obama.
“Michelle Obama spent
time with each family indi-
vidually,” Raiford says.
“She did not rush us even
though it was right before
the State of the Union
address. She let everyone
speak for as long as they
wanted.”
Mayors Against Illegal
Guns, the gun control group
founded by New York
Mayor Mike Blomberg,
brought Raiford and other
victims of gun violence to
the capitol to lobby for a
range of measures includ-
ing: universal background
checks for gun buyers, a ban
on assault weapons and high
capacity magazines, and
making gun trafficking a
federal crime. Raiford and
others spent two days meet-
ing with Oregon legislators
to ask them to support gun
control efforts in Congress.
Raiford’s nephew Andre
Dupree Payton, 19, was
killed outside a downtown
aimed at healing the vio-
lence that claimed her
nephew’s life.
“My nephew got killed by
a bullet that came out with
66 other bullets,” Raiford
said. “They found 67 bul-
lets. And my friend Paul’s
brother-in-law was killed at
Clackamas Town Center by
the 13th bullet – and that
Obama spent hours with
Raiford’s group before the
State of the Union address
nightclub in Portland, on
Sept. 26, 2010. Raiford was
visiting family in Portland
at the time and decided to
stay after the tragedy. Previ-
ously she had been living in
Texas, where she ran a suc-
cessful
business
de vel op ment company.
Since then, she has run for
Portland City Commission-
er and promoted countless
community events, all
took one and a half minutes.
“What I want to support is
gun education, gun safety
and lockboxes. The boy
who killed people at
Clackamas got the gun
because it was not locked
up. The Raven group found
that 80 percent of people
incarcerated for gun crimes
bought their guns off the
street legally”
“There’s a lot of NRA
people who feel that this is
necessary and doesn’t take
away our Second Amend-
ment rights. None of the
stuff we’re talking about
violates anyone’s Second
Amendment rights.
“I am asking people to go
to demandaplan.org and
sign the petition,” Raiford
says. “And we need to get
Rep. Kurt Schrader on
board so I’m asking people
to call him or email his
office. Reps. Blumenauer
and DeFazio, and Senator
Wyden
and
Senator
Merkley are all on board, so
that’s where the effort needs
to be.
The First Lady spent two
and a half hours with
Raiford’s group on the after-
noon before the State of the
Union address.
“She says they are 100
percent behind background
checks, and they are sup-
porting victim families like
myself,” Raiford says.
“We’re never getting our
children back but we’re
PHOTO: JEN MALER OF JENMALER.COM
Rep. Kurt Schrader is alone among Oregon delegation to shun gun control
First Lady Michelle Obama met with family
members of victims of gun violence last week. She
is pictured here with Teressa Raiford, whose
nephew Andre Payton was shot in Portland
September 2010. Raiford is lobbying for gun
control measures including universal background
checks. Visit demandaplan.org to learn more.
doing this for them. The
president can’t do it without
us. We need to be empow-
ered by our communities.”
You can contact Rep. Kurt
Schrader’s office at: 202-
225-5711
February 20, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 7