Angie Gallo as two children and is the legislative chair for the Florida PTA. After The Pulse Nightclub shooting advocacy and legislative groups banded together to build a legislative coalition for gun safely regulations.
On June 11, 2016, Angie and her family were traveling to Destin. She first hear about the Pulse Nightclub shooting on Twitter. Scrolling, she found out that the shooting was in Orlando, her backyard. Her phone started ringing and she called people. It was just awful.
While in Destin she got a phone call within days from Patty Bringham with the League of Woman Voters, who is the gun safety chair of the state. She said, we have to do something, we have to form a coalition. She asked if the Florida PTA would be on the coalition. That wasn’t Angies call, she spoke to the president who was absolutely on board.
Conference calls followed where they defined their mission and goals. They agreed that background checks should be expanded, and assault weapons should be banned.
The coalition kept growing. Angie was asked to be on the steering committee on behalf of the PTA. She attended a big press conference for the release of the assault weapon ban bill on the steps of the courthouse. There were some survivors from Pulse who spoke.
She feels that people in Orlando have become a little bit kinder, a little bit more aware of different view points and different people. A dialogue was started that should have been started a long time ago with gun safety and mental health.