Thousands march for gun control in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of people, many holding signs with names of gun violence victims and messages such as "Ban Assault Weapons Now," gathered in front of the Capitol on Saturday for a March on Washington for Gun Control.
Marchers were led by Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials Saturday morning, and the crowd stretched for about two blocks along Constitution Avenue. Police blocked off half the road.
Participants held signs reading "Gun Control Now" and "Stop NRA," among other messages. Other signs were simple and white, with the names of victims of gun violence.
About 100 residents of Newtown were expected at the march. It was organized in response to the December shooting there that killed 20 first-graders and six teachers.
Kara Baekey of Norwalk, Conn., said she immediately thought of her two young children when she heard about the shooting. She said she decided she must take action, and that's why she joined Saturday's march.
"I wanted to make sure this never happens at my kids' school or any other school," Baekey said. "It just can't happen again."
James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten sign on cardboard that read "Repeal the 2nd Amendment." He called it the only way to stop mass killings because he thinks the Supreme Court will strike down any other restrictions on guns.
"You can repeal it," he said. "We repealed prohibition."
Molly Smith, the artistic director of Washington's Arena Stage, and her partner organized the march. Organizers said that in addition to the 100 from Newtown, they expected buses of participants from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia. Others are flying in from Seattle, San Francisco and even Alaska. A rally was planned on the monument grounds at noon.
While she's never organized a political march before, Smith said she was compelled to press for a change in the law. The march organizers support President Barack Obama's call for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as for universal background checks for gun sales. They also want lawmakers to require gun safety training for all buyers of firearms.
"With the drum roll, the consistency of the mass murders and the shock of it, it is always something that is moving and devastating to me. And then, it's as if I move on," Smith said. "And in this moment, I can't move on. I can't move on.
"I think it's because it was children, babies," she said. "I was horrified by it."
After the Connecticut shootings, Smith posted something on Facebook and drew more support to do something. The group One Million Moms for Gun Control, the Washington National Cathedral and two other churches eventually signed on to co-sponsor the march. Organizers have raised more than $46,000 online to pay for equipment and fees to stage the rally.
Lawmakers from the District of Columbia and Maryland were scheduled to speak Saturday. Actress Kathleen Turner was expected to appear, along with Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund and Colin Goddard, a survivor from the Virginia Tech massacre.
Smith said she supports a comprehensive look at mental health and violence in video games and films. But she said the mass killings at Virginia Tech and Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., all start with guns.
"The issue is guns. The Second Amendment gives us the right to own guns, but it's not the right to own any gun," she said. "These are assault weapons, made for killing people."
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March on Washington for Gun Control: www.guncontrolmarch.com
Marchers were led by Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials Saturday morning, and the crowd stretched for about two blocks along Constitution Avenue. Police blocked off half the road.
Participants held signs reading "Gun Control Now" and "Stop NRA," among other messages. Other signs were simple and white, with the names of victims of gun violence.
About 100 residents of Newtown were expected at the march. It was organized in response to the December shooting there that killed 20 first-graders and six teachers.
Kara Baekey of Norwalk, Conn., said she immediately thought of her two young children when she heard about the shooting. She said she decided she must take action, and that's why she joined Saturday's march.
"I wanted to make sure this never happens at my kids' school or any other school," Baekey said. "It just can't happen again."
James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten sign on cardboard that read "Repeal the 2nd Amendment." He called it the only way to stop mass killings because he thinks the Supreme Court will strike down any other restrictions on guns.
"You can repeal it," he said. "We repealed prohibition."
Molly Smith, the artistic director of Washington's Arena Stage, and her partner organized the march. Organizers said that in addition to the 100 from Newtown, they expected buses of participants from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia. Others are flying in from Seattle, San Francisco and even Alaska. A rally was planned on the monument grounds at noon.
While she's never organized a political march before, Smith said she was compelled to press for a change in the law. The march organizers support President Barack Obama's call for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as for universal background checks for gun sales. They also want lawmakers to require gun safety training for all buyers of firearms.
"With the drum roll, the consistency of the mass murders and the shock of it, it is always something that is moving and devastating to me. And then, it's as if I move on," Smith said. "And in this moment, I can't move on. I can't move on.
"I think it's because it was children, babies," she said. "I was horrified by it."
After the Connecticut shootings, Smith posted something on Facebook and drew more support to do something. The group One Million Moms for Gun Control, the Washington National Cathedral and two other churches eventually signed on to co-sponsor the march. Organizers have raised more than $46,000 online to pay for equipment and fees to stage the rally.
Lawmakers from the District of Columbia and Maryland were scheduled to speak Saturday. Actress Kathleen Turner was expected to appear, along with Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund and Colin Goddard, a survivor from the Virginia Tech massacre.
Smith said she supports a comprehensive look at mental health and violence in video games and films. But she said the mass killings at Virginia Tech and Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., all start with guns.
"The issue is guns. The Second Amendment gives us the right to own guns, but it's not the right to own any gun," she said. "These are assault weapons, made for killing people."
___
March on Washington for Gun Control: www.guncontrolmarch.com
How fascinating.... A couple of thousand of people show up to protest for gun control and it K2 runs a story repleat with heart-string pulling references to Sandy Hook and full of images of empassioned children in the midst.
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An (Oregon State Police estimated) thousand or so show up in Salem to protest against gun control, and it rates a blurb with K2 estimates of 'hundreds' showing up.Â
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An (US Secret Service) estimated 100,000 (including an estimated 18,000 kids)Â show up in the annual march for life and on that day, K2 runs a story about 'roe v wade' without mention of the protest.Â
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Naaaaaa... No media bias there.Â
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It would be funny if the social programming that the 'news' media does on a daily basis weren't so horribly apparent.Â
Oh, look! Thousands of hoblophobic soccer moms and their kids--the "where's a cop when you need one" set--presuming to tell a nation of people who registered for selective service, or were drafted, or fought in wars or otherwise served their country, what rights they should have. Â
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I want to know which of these women is going to go out into American a tell people "We're coming to seize your private property because we're afraid of it , and we've already seized power, so you don't give us what we want you're a criminal."
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All of you people who have thought that nobody's trying to take your 2nd Amendment, here it is:
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"James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten sign on cardboard that read "Repeal the 2nd Amendment." He called it the only way to stop mass killings because he thinks the Supreme Court will strike down any other restrictions on guns. 'You can repeal it,' he said. 'We repealed prohibition.'
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He can't imagine that the reason "we" repealed prohibition is because it didn't work. This is what passes for logic in DC.
Thousands march, while millions stay at home and praise the right to bear arms.
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Welcome to the future! Now that Americans realize they need to protect themselves from gun enthusiasts, there will be many more buy-back events, new laws, and a whole lot of psychological counseling for people who think having more guns is the answer.
 @correct We gun owners want more buy-backs because we turn in old guns we don't want and trade them for high-cap magazines and ammunition. I've got a collection ready to go when they do it Oregon so you liberal taxpayers can subsidize my armory upgrade. Now you're threatening to force us into pyschological counseling?Â
Cheers.
 @correct Good morning Correct.
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Firearm enthusiasts aren't a problem to anyone. Firearm owners aren't a problem to anyone. They, to my knowledge, haven't committed any of these heinous crimes. Crazed lunatics who use firearms to exact their diabolical schemes are the problem. I don't think more guns is the answer any more than I think less guns is the answer.
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My humble opinion only.
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 @Torino_v2 Waste not, your mental energy on feeble-minded and timid folk. There is a world of opportunity out there for the taking, go now, and claim an opportunity for YOU! Forget these lackluster individuals who would rather get micro-chipped and categorized.Â
Five more dead in Chicago due to lead poisoning and 5 more wounded Saturday. Gun bans work really well, don't they.
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Guess who's home town.
Nearly 500,000 marched in DC at a pro-life rally, where's the article for that?
 @NGerblansky They're not trying to ban guns, which is OBVIOUSLY what's important.
@NGerblansky we would rather read about 500 of these people........
it's sad when people feel that they need to give one right away to gain another. people should be free from those that would want to limit the constitutional rights as an american.       "We must reject the idea that every time a lawâs broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions".---President Reagan
By the way, anyone look at the purpose Feinstein wrote for her bill? "To regulate assault weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes."
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"to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited," Wtf?!
 @ChrisJ82 "....the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited..." She has written in an exemption for herself ("certain government officials") and the police state. Which is better than Cuomo because he was such a kneejerk gun-banner that he accidentally banned guns from his own cops. WTF it is is, she's attempting to get away with treason. Calling it as a I see it.
@Playanekes @ChrisJ82 Better add Justice Scalia to the treason list. Senator F is paraphrasing his ruling in Heller v DC.
 @ChrisJ82 She is a jack*** ,so just ignore whatever she purposes.Â
 @TreeWizard You know the old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It's important we know what she's doing, why she's doing it, and it's even more important that we make her antics known.
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"to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited," where are all the fake moderates now to lie to us about how that they're after crime not our guns?Â
I was going to list the adult and children names of the Holocaust victims, but the adult one alone was 87 pages. Freedom and America are one. Be prepared to give up more freedoms to feel safe. Gun control is such a hot button issue and emotions run high, but gun control will not solve the problem. Mexico will have it's own Rapido y Furioso. Then we will be getting RPG's and AK47's from south of the border. You can't count on the government to do the right thing for the people. They prove that time and again.
 @The Resistance Amen.
 @The Resistance Hey no POS Russian made weapon is going to kill this Amurican.
 @TreeWizard  @The Resistance Isn't it funny how ten years ago everybody was freaking out about how dangerous Rottweiler dogs and AK-47s were, and before that some were afraid of .38 snubnose revolvers and Dobermans?
American pop culture is fear-driven. There's a guy in the article trying to ban guns because we banned prohibition after it didn't work.Â
Thousands? I'm pretty sure you meant hundreds. Or at least that's the type of "mixup" reporting you did for the Jan 19th rally in Salem.
sheeple and self proclaimed victims
James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten sign on cardboard that read "Repeal the 2nd Amendment.". "You can repeal it," he said. "We repealed prohibition."Â
Sorry, Mr. Agenbroad, the repeal of the 2nd Amendment is not gonna happen.  Even the Supreme Court does not have the power to repeal a Constitutional Amendment. Comparing prohibition to the 2nd Amendment is like comparing apples and oranges. There would have to be an amendment to repeal the 2nd Amendment, and that amendment would need 38 states to ratify it.
 @theobserver On a hilarious note, the silliness that was prohibition and the criminals circumventing it like crazy should only pile on the evidence to support the KEEPING of the 2nd Amendment.Â
And as for my parting bit of wisdom, or lunacy.....Remember this folks, once the 2nd Amendment is gone, the First is very likely to follow!Â
"You can repeal it," he said. "We repealed prohibition." --- My personal favorite from this piece. It's almost like he is a double-agent and doesn't even know it.Â
 @Kraut Or he's a double-agent and he sounds so much like the rest of them that nobody even noticed."Wullll... I think we oughtta ban art because children choke on crayons. We can repeal the First Amendment, because we repealed ...*hic*... prohibition. Now get mommy a drink!"
Morons, Morons Everywhere!Â
Gun control starts with human control which won't control criminals.
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How dumb.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
 @Jeremy They just elected Obama again.:-)
@last boyscout and Bush twice before him.
 @last boyscout  @Ramsesthegreat All I see from all of you is separatism. "my sides better than yours!!!" we will see how far this gets us when we're in another civil war.  Trolls think their side is perfect. @TreeWizardÂ
 @Ramsesthegreat  @last At least the first time. Clinton called the Assault Weapons Ban one of the worst political moves he ever made, and the Dems got rolled up in the election.Thank you, Drive Through.
 @randomdude  @last boyscout  @Ramsesthegreat That was rude.
 @TreeWizard  @last boyscout  @Ramsesthegreat Bush was a retard. Obama is a Tyrant.
 @The Resistance  @TreeWizard  @last  @Ramsesthegreat Maybe Jeb Bush will run in 2016, and his VP will be G.W.B
 @The Resistance  @TreeWizard  @last  @Ramsesthegreat ~  Yep, I liked Ike, too... and I remember being quite upset when my parents told me I wasn't old enough to vote for him..!  (I was in elementary school at the time...)
@TreeWizard @last boyscout @Ramsesthegreat ---- I liked Ike, but I was only 5 years old. W how I miss you.
 @last boyscout  @Ramsesthegreat I liked Bush.
 @Ramsesthegreat You know some Liberals that voted for Bush?
The Constitution is clear. I don't care what these crybabies and child exploiters think. Maybe they should read it, and then read the Federalist Papers as well.
 @HuskyKMA The constitution is an interpreted document, deciphered by the SCOTUS. Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is so clear as to it's permanence.
 @Torino_v2  @HuskyKMA What part of SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED is so hard to understand?
 @Playanekes  @TreeWizard  @Jeremy  @Torino_v2  @HuskyKMA Thanks for posting an actual Jefferson quote. This one, though, is misunderstood.
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The line "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants..." is often understood as a moral imperative. It's as though Jefferson is saying that the people must be armed and ready to rise up against the government or else freedom is lost.
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But that's not what he is saying. The key is  this line: "The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them."Â
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Who's 'them'? It's the commoners who took up arms and revolted. Jefferson is saying that the government's response should be to restore order, pardon them, and then inform them as to what their mistake was. He takes it for granted that the government will put down the rebellion. He's saying the the government should be lenient and humane in doing so, rather than kill them all.
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So the tree of liberty line is not an imperative. It's a description of what will happen in a free society. He's saying that from time-to-time, some people will rebel, but it's not that big a deal. The government can restore order gently. It does not need to banish freedom in order to maintain order. That's why he is so upset about the British lies describing anarchy in the US.
 @TreeWizard  @Jeremy  @Torino_v2  @HuskyKMA Lies.  Here, have some Jefferson:"The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, and what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist?"
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"And what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure."Â http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/tree-liberty-quotation
 @Jeremy Hello Jeremy, I'll try to answer your question as best I can. I understand the Constitution very well. As well as the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers.
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The Constitution is not a static document in that it is interpreted continually by the SCOTUS. The implications to you and I are that nothing within the Constitution will remain unchanged forever. Any portion can be interpreted differently, depending on the SCOTUS justices at the time, and case precedent can be overturned.
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One could argue that current law is in violation of the second amendment. It is, in a manner of speaking, currently infringed.
@Jeremy @Torino_v2 @HuskyKMA The same part the Justice Scalia doesn't get.
 @Jeremy  @Torino_v2  @HuskyKMA Obviously, the 2nd amendment was made, so militias could enforce slavery.