Updated as of 12:13 p.m. on Oct. 28 to include video of a one on one interview with Watts.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, was hosted by Elon University’s Liberal Arts Forum on Oct. 22, a student organization that researches and pitches speakers throughout the semester.

Patti Gibbons, the advisor for the Liberal Arts Forum and the associate director of cultural and special programs, said the speakers are meant to make students more interested and involved in their community.

“What we’re hoping is that it makes them more curious and want to have conversations,” Gibbons said.

Watts started her journey as an activist for ending gun violence after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. 

“I sort of just sat down and watched this horrific tragedy and it was truly unfathomable at that time,” Watts said during the event.

Watts said she went to bed devastated that night and thought of starting a Facebook group. She originally called it “One Million Moms for Gun Control,” and it has since become a larger activist group called “Moms Demand Action”

“It was really about bringing women together, using the moral power and polarity of mothers in this country as a way to force political change,” Watts said during the event. 

Emily Sharpe, mayor of the Town of Elon, said she agreed. 

“Any opportunity we have to bring even small groups together to have important conversations is going to just help drive more unity in our country,” Sharpe said.

Mom's Demand Action campaigns for stricter gun laws and encourages responsible gun ownership. 

Watts said when leading an organization like Moms Demand Action, it’s a constant battle trying to find a middle ground between leading and the volunteers. 

“You’re always trying to find an equilibrium between being too top down, which is too controlling, and too bottom up which is too chaotic, and you’re never going to always be right there,” Watts said during the event. 

During the event Watts said activists need to understand how to inform their audience, so they need to stay up to speed on how to reach a wide variety of people. 

Watts said she thinks gun violence is so common nowadays that it doesn’t faze anyone.

“It is so desensitized, they make it seem so normal,” Watts said during the event.

During the event, Watts said since Moms Demand Action has started up there has been a seismic shift in American politics. 

After stepping down from Mom’s Demand Action in 2023, she said she thought she was going to slow down and take a break. However, Maria Shriver, a longtime advocate for women and a member of the Kennedy family, said she would like Watts to write a book about her career and activism. 

Watts’ book “Fired Up” is about how men are taught to go with their intuition and women are taught to do what they are told. Watts counters that and encourages women to fulfill their desires. 

During the event Watts said that it’s about leaving a legacy and knowing that you fulfilled your life. 

Watts also said she is afraid political violence will get worse in this country as around 120 people are shot everyday and their stories are never told. 

“You know we’re all vicarious survivors of trauma in this country, whether you’re a gun violence survivor or not, you’ve experienced these shootings individually," Watts said during the event.

Trista Panagakos contributed to the reporting of this story.