--- title: DNC: Orlando Shooting Victim's Mother Speaks description: The mother of an Orlando shooting victim took the stage to call for better gun-control policies at the Democratic convention. canonical: https://time.com/4427581/dnc-christine-leinonen-orlando-shooting/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-28T00:12:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:44:16.804Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Emotional Speech From an Orlando Victim's Mother og:description: "One minute to fire so many shots, five minutes per bell to honor so many lives." og:url: https://time.com/4427581/dnc-christine-leinonen-orlando-shooting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68f784165c758b04/69889fe3196cf4195803c9c8/christine-leinonen1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Christine Leinonen (C), mother of Christopher "Drew" Leinonen killed in the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida, is joined by Brandon Wolf (L) and Jose Arriagada who survived the attack during the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Emotional Speech From an Orlando Victim's Mother twitter:description: "One minute to fire so many shots, five minutes per bell to honor so many lives." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68f784165c758b04/69889fe3196cf4195803c9c8/christine-leinonen1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Emotional Speech From an Orlando Victim's Mother > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c3491f1a-4348-4ae1-8669-1fba3554852e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Emotional Speech From an Orlando Victim’s Mother [Watch (HLS stream): The Emotional Speech From an Orlando Victim’s Mother](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HMfwihrQ.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2016-07-28. Christine Leinonen, the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, one of the 49 victims of the June shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, said that when she was a state trooper she had to turn in her service weapon when she went into labor with her son._ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 28, 2016 12:12 AM UTC Christine Leinonen, the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, one of the 49 victims of the June shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, said that when she was a state trooper she had to turn in her service weapon when she went into labor with her son. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 28, 2016 12:12 AM UTC The mother of an Orlando shooting victim took the stage to call for better gun-control policies at the Democratic national convention on Wednesday. Christine Leinonen, the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, one of the 49 victims of the June shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, said that when she was a state trooper she had to turn in her service weapon when she went into labor with her son. “The weapon that murdered my son fires 30 rounds in one minute. An Orlando city commissioner pointed out the terrible math. One minute per gun to fire so many shots, five minutes per bell to honor so many lives. I’m glad common-sense gun policy was in place when Christopher was born, but where was that common sense the day he died?” she asked. Flanked by [Jose Arriagada, Christopher’s ex-boyfriend and a survivor of the shooting, and Brandon Wolf, a friend of Christopher’s and another survivor](http://time.com/4426865/dnc-orlando-victim-speakers/), Leinonen added that her son was a supporter of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Leinonen’s speech received a standing ovation from the audience. Read her full remarks, as delivered: --- > “” --- ## Transcript It takes about five minutes for a church bell to ring 49 times. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I know this because last month, my son Christopher. His boyfriend one and 47 others were murdered at a club in Orlando. Christopher's paternal grandparents met and fell in love in a Japanese internment camp. So it was in his DNA that love always trumps hate. [ APPLAUSE ] I'm glad common sense gun policy was in place the day Christopher was born. But where was that common sense the day he died. [ APPLAUSE ] I never want you to ask that question about your child that's why I support Hillary Clinton. 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