In honor of Mother’s Day, State Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson lectured about gun violence to a crowd of mothers and activists gathered at a Montecito home on Saturday.

The Santa Barbara Coalition Against Gun Violence – an organization dedicated to reducing gun violence and promoting education about guns- hosted the annual garden reception at which keynote speaker Jackson spoke about the need for more severe gun control and the importance of increasing gun safety.

“Anyone who thinks clearly and acknowledges the facts can’t help but know we need gun laws to promote the proper level of safety,” she said. “We can put a man on the moon, but we cannot develop a childproof trigger-lock on guns?”

Current gun control legislation focuses on punishment, whereas it should focus more on prevention, Jackson said.

“Those [opposing gun control] want more punishment, but you can’t bring people back to life,” she said. “We need to be focusing on prevention.”

Jackson said citizens should send letters to the governor and the federal government encouraging them to support anti-gun legislation.

“Noisy, squeaky wheels get the grease. We need to get noisy,” she said.

The $2,000 raised at the event was used to cover the cost of the annual Mother’s Day advertisement in the Santa Barbara News-Press, which promoted opposition to gun violence.

Mother’s Day – which originated over 150 years ago – was designed to be a day of peace during which mothers mourn the loss of life. The purpose for discussing gun violence on Mother’s Day is to acknowledge the suffering mothers’ experience because of gun violence, according to the coalition.

“Mothers bring life, and we don’t like to see it taken away,” said mother and anti-gun legislation supporter Edith Kay. “Instead of trying to punish and analyze criminals, we should just get rid of guns and solve the whole problem.”