Protest Easy Guns

I had my day all planned out today. I was going to stay home, do laundry, and wash dishes. Maybe make some home-made granola. But when I was in the shower this morning, WHYY mentioned something about an anti-gun protest today on Independence Mall. I looked up the details online, grabbed my camera, and headed downtown.

The protest was by a group called ProtestEasyGuns.com (their name is their address), largely in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech.

It was a smaller group than I'd hoped, but it was a Sunday, and the weather forecast called for thunderstorms today, and it was already raining a little bit by the time the protest started. At least there were a couple of tv filming crews there (one from Fox29, and I'm not sure about the other one), plus a reporter from KYW1060 News Radio.

There were about 32 protesters (plus maybe an extra supporter or two)--mostly women-- dressed in black with "Outrage ribbons" in Virginia Tech's school colors, maroon and orange. I believe I heard someone say that the scarves were made by a mother who lost a child at Virginia Tech, but I can't be sure. Leading up to noon, they handed out flyers titled, "Did you know that in Pennsylvania" to passers-by, listing some disturbing facts about buying guns in PA (There is no waiting period to buy a gun. No training is required to obtain a permit for carrying a concealed weapon. You are not required to report a lost or stolen gun to police.) and giving information on contacting legislators, and on organizing your own protest.

At noon, the group formed into 2 lines. Hope Bennett, one of the organizers of the protest, read a short speech explaining what the event was about. She summed up her own involvement by explaining: "I have sat at home and expressed my outrage to my family and myself. After the Virginia Tech incident, we can no longer stay on the sidelines. Enough is enough; it's time to try something else."

She also made a good point when repeating the arguments made by the gun-lobby: "Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Absolutely, so we invite the gun lobby to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the fight to keep guns out of the hands of those people."

The 32 people (symbolizing the 32 victims at Virginia Tech and the 32 people who die every day in this country from gun violence) then lay down on the sidewalk for a few minutes, symbolizing the amount of time it took for the VA Tech shooter to obtain his gun.

Afterward, I talked briefly with Hope Bennett. She'd been hard to hear over the Market Street traffic, so she kindly gave me a copy of her speech.