Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates and longtime civil rights activist Vernon Jordan Jr., now senior counsel at Washington's Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, on Wednesday spoke out for gun control and called on an Atlanta audience not to despair on the state of the nation.

Honored at the Anti-Defamation League's 21st Annual Jurisprudence Luncheon, the two attorneys with deep Atlanta roots engaged in a 30-minute discussion with former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears, now a partner at Atlanta's Smith, Gambrell & Russell. The White House fired Yates in January 2017 after she refused to defend President Donald Trump's first travel ban executive order targeting seven predominantly Muslim countries.

The ADL on Wednesday gave Jordan its Lifetime Achievement Award and presented Yates with the Elbert P. Tuttle Jurisprudence Award.

Asked by Sears for their thoughts on gun control in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead, Yates threw her support behind the students who immediately demanded gun control measures, and the businesses, including Atlanta's Delta Air Lines and Dick's Sporting Goods, that took a public stance on the issue.

Jordan, who survived a 1980 assassination attempt by a racist sniper when he was president of The Urban League, called for a repeal of the Second Amendment and derided efforts to arm teachers as “insane.”

Yates said the country has been moved by the voices of students in the aftermath of the Florida high school shooting. She specifically pointed to a CNN Town Hall where students confronted public officials.

“Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but it feels different right now,” Yates said. “And I don't know what that's going to translate into in terms of common-sense gun reform, but it feels markedly different.”

“But these kids can't do it by themselves,” she added. “I think it is up to all of us to ensure that our voices continue to be heard so that we can have a rational debate. … We have to be able to discuss what common-sense gun measures make sense for our country going forward.”

She also praised Dick's Sporting Goods, which announced Wednesday that it would no longer sell guns to people under 21, and would no longer sell assault-style weapons.

“And I guess the last thing I would say is fly Delta,” she said to loud applause, referencing the airline's announcement that it will no longer give membership discounts to National Rifle Association members.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is running for governor, and other Republican state legislators pledged to kill Delta's sales tax exemption for jet fuel if it does not reverse course.

Jordan, who reminded the audience he has still has a hole in his back from a .30-06 bullet, said, “You can't shoot anybody if you don't have a gun. It's just that simple.”

“There was a time when the Constitution did not have a 13th or a 14th Amendment,” he continued. “So if you can add something, then you can take something out. I would take the guns. I would destroy them. And the notion of teachers being armed with guns in school is insane.”

Yates and Jordan also addressed the tenor of the nation, including division, rising racism, anti-Semitism and the seemingly endless ethical controversies the current White House administration is embroiled in.

“I'm not worried about the current administration and his activities because we've been here before,” Jordan said as he reminded his audience of the nation's history confronting and advancing civil, racial and social justice. “And we will survive it, and he will lose.”

Yates said people must not normalize questionable actions by the current administration or let public officials “off the hook in Washington” no matter how exhausting it may be to continue challenging them.

“I know it's hard to stay in a constant state of outrage,” Yates said. “But it is important that we continue to put a marker down about who we are as a country. Or at least who we aspire to be. Because if we turn away from Washington because they don't seem to be a particularly receptive audience right now, and focus only on the states, then I think we are going to see a tectonic shift in what's considered normal behavior.”