PSA

Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, and More Stars Have a Very Specific Plan for Rejecting the N.R.A.

A new P.S.A., filmed in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, admits that even actors get scared of making phone calls.

On December 14, 2012, Julianne Moore’s then 10-year-old daughter, Liv, was with her on set at work. They drove to set with the radio off, and when they arrived, Moore kept her daughter from seeing the news on TV. No one spoke of what was happening in the makeup room. But when the pair got home that night and began to decorate the Christmas tree, Liv looked at her phone and asked her mom a question: “Mommy, did a bunch of little kids get shot today?”

The day of the Sandy Hook shooting is the day, Moore said, that she woke up as both a parent and an advocate.

“I just realized suddenly that I was just being irresponsible,” she said. “I was an irresponsible parent, and it wasn't doing anything by trying to keep the news from her. It really bothered me. It really just stayed with me.”

The Oscar winner said that when she spoke out about her anger on social media, she only received backlash from people who accused her of “threatening the second amendment.” Moore took her anger and passion and began to e-mail everyone she knew about what she regards as a “nonpartisan issue,” a “safety resolution.” In 2015, inspired by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, and by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Moore created the Creative Council for Everytown for Gun Safety.

The council, a group of writers, actors, musicians, and artists, help advocate for stricter gun laws in the U.S. On Wednesday, Moms Demand Action and Everytown are announcing a new initiative, a plan to send one million calls—until the next congress vote in 2018—to reject the N.R.A.’s agenda. This agenda includes efforts to roll back gun silencer safety laws and to pass “Concealed Carry Reciprocity.” The new P.S.A., featuring Moore and other stars, including Emma Stone, Adam Scott, Laura Dern, and Moby, can be seen above.

In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting on October 1, the deadliest in U.S. history, Moore said she and the rest of the creative council didn’t want to release yet another P.S.A. that said “this is a terrible thing, this is a terrible thing, this is a terrible thing.” Instead, they released a video explaining step for step how to make a call and reject the N.R.A.

Moore said that though even actors like herself find it scary to pick up the phone and call a stranger, it works.

“I’m not saying I have an answer for anything, or that any of us has an answer. But we do know what things will reduce violence. So why aren’t we implementing them?”