Democratic convention's final night to feature gun violence survivors

The final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago will feature lawmakers and victims of gun violence pushing for changes at the state and national levels, according to a convention official.

Speakers in prime time Thursday night will include former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot at an event in her Arizona district in 2011; Rep. Lucy McBath, of Georgia, who lost her son Jordan to gun violence in 2012; and a group of state lawmakers known as the "Tennessee Three."

Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson and Justin J. Pearson drew national attention after they were expelled from the Legislature for leading a protest against gun violence after a school shooting. (They eventually took back their seats.)

The theme of the night will officially be titled "For Our Future."

McBath reflected on the value of having a whole program dedicated to reducing rates of gun violence, telling NBC News: "I was here in 2016. ... At that time, then-Secretary [Hillary] Clinton was the only presidential candidate ever to explicitly have a full agenda for gun violence prevention as a policy agenda that she was running on."

"Here we are in 2024," McBath said, adding: "It's so completely different. It is so completely different now. We now are the Davids to the Goliath of the scourge of gun violence in this country."

McBath will moderate a conversation with activists and gun violence survivors from across the country, including Abbey Clements, a second grade teacher who survived the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut; Melody McFadden, a gun violence survivor from South Carolina whose mother was shot and killed when McFadden was 17; Edgar Vilchez, a gun safety activist from Chicago; and Kimberly