Actress and comedian Amy Schumer is well-known for her sense of humor, but in light of recent events, Schumer has been in a different spotlight. Working with her cousin, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, Amy has taken a very active, political stance on gun control and violence in the United States. This move follows the July 23 movie theater shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana, that left two women dead. Moviegoers in The Grand Theatre in Lafayette that evening were there to see "Trainwreck," Schumer’s hilarious new take on a romantic comedy. So, understandably, the shooting hit a nerve with the actress.
“I got about a million emails from friends telling me it could have been any movie, and I'm trying to believe that, but I'm not sure," Amy said of the Louisiana shooting. "I think the idea of women — women's equality making anyone upset is not something I'll ever understand. I think women are always in a great threat of violence just statistically, but I know personally that I'm someone — and the people I'm close to know — when these sort of things happen, we mourn and then we get angry. And it'll just make us fight harder and rise up and rally together to fight against this kind of violence and any other kind of aggression that comes toward us."
The cousins paired up to take on this difficult, hot-button issue in our society in the wake of this tragedy. On the afternoon of Aug. 3, a news conference was held announcing their partnership and the law to be brought before Congress. Gun control activists, including many victims and family members involved in the Sandy Hook tragedy of 2012, called for action after the theater shooting, specifically from Amy Schumer. Sarah Clements, whose mother is a survivor of the Sandy Hook shooting, spoke out on Medium urging Schumer to step up. “Amy Schumer, I and many other Millennials look up to you so much. You are our generation’s epitome of what it means to be a strong, powerful, self-aware champion for the experiences and truths of being a woman and an American today,” Clements wrote. “I know deep down that the tweet you sent after the shooting was not all that you’ve got. And we need your voice in this movement. We need your help.”
Amy has an opportunity to bring awareness to the importance of gun control in our country. Though many fear the “Hollywood liberal” category that Schumer falls into politically, it is important that those with a platform use it to help causes. One must hope that the collaboration between Amy and Sen. Schumer is not all for publicity but comes from a place of genuine concern for the future of our country without stricter regulations on firearms. With an extremely polarized topic like gun control, views on the subject can overshadow the heart of the issue. New York Magazine cited data arguing that “in some polls asking whether gun laws should be made stricter, there's a 40-point gap between Democrats and Republicans.” Clearly, there is a political divide on a topic that for many like Schumer seems straightforward. With school shootings, movie theater tragedies and other horrible events seemingly on the rise, what will be the breaking point for the American public to realize that gun control should have stricter regulations?
Skeptics argue that the push for gun control from the Schumer duo may backfire, but regardless of their success here, it is a step in the right direction. For fear of re-election backlash, public opinion drops or a myriad of other causes, many politicians and public figures attempt to stay neutral on such polarizing topics. For Amy and Sen. Schumer, taking a public stance on gun control may cause some negative reactions, but it is creating a larger conversation around a very important public issue.
