Washington: Thousands of people hit the streets of the United States on Saturday to push action against devastating gun violence that has plagued countries that have repeatedly blocked Republican politicians from making efforts to enact stricter firearms laws. I did. Protesters of all ages flowed into the National Mall in Washington, where activists placed over 45,000 white vases with flowers. This is one for each person killed by firearms in the United States in 2020.
“Protect people, not guns,” said a sign that protesters had near the Washington Monument. Read another article, “Fear is not in school.” Two horrific shots last month were shot at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers, and a supermarket in New York that killed 10 blacks, a rally hosted by March for Hour Life. Spurred on.
A student-led organization founded by shooting survivors in a high school in Parkland, Florida, held a rally in March 2018 that attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the capital. Four years later, the demo lacked progress.
“Sufficient” was repeatedly heard from the podium, and speakers such as Parkland survivor X Gonzalez and Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter Yolanda King gathered. “We are here to demand justice,” said Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother was killed in a racially motivated supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York on May 14. Said. Demand wise gun control. “
Widespread anger, almost change
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the problem of gun violence in the United States, which has killed more than 19,300 people so far this year, far exceeds the attention-grabbing mass slaughter, more than half of which are due to suicide. Outside Washington, hundreds of demonstrations were planned nationwide on Saturday, including Parkland, where protesters put up signs with messages such as “Am I next?”
Thousands of people have been found in New York City. In Brooklyn, a white cross was erected for the children killed in Yuvarde, and portraits of the children killed in Buffalo were fixed in a shopping cart. The May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has brought both accessibility to firearms and mental health issues where firearms can be used in attacks into the limelight. I am.
The slaughter was carried out by a gunman who bought two assault rifles shortly after turning 18. Advocates of gun control are calling for stricter restrictions or complete bans on such rifles. However, the enemy is trying to throw mass shootings, primarily as a mental health issue, not as a weapon issue. Texas physical education teacher Gerald Mendes, who attended the rally in New York, said he supported the US right to arm, but said, “For AR-15 and war weapons, we, the general public, need them. do not do. “
While the majority of Americans support stricter gun law, opposition from many Republicans has long been a hurdle to major change. “The will of the American people has been destroyed by the minority,” said Cynthia Martins, a 63-year-old resident of the US capital, referring to the Republicans. “There is a reason we are still in this situation,” she said.
“Fear of us living together every day”
Some lawmakers are trying to pass gun control. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a wide range of proposals this week, including raising the purchase age of most semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, but the party has the 60 votes needed to move it forward in the Senate. Is not … Senator cross-party groups have also worked on a narrow collection of controls that could lead to the first serious attempt at gun regulation reform in decades.
However, it does not include bans on offensive weapons or background checks. In other words, it does not meet the expectations of President Joe Biden. Faith Barrett, a teacher and teacher who went to the rally with his daughter, expressed the frustration shared by many at the mall. “We are still back in the same place,” said a 47-year-old woman, who expressed only a “provisional” change in hope. Both her and her daughter are planning for a shooting at their school.
“Most teachers look at every classroom they enter and think about where to put their kids if something goes wrong,” Barrett said. The ghosts of gun violence also depended on rallies where police and security forces had a strong presence. The moment of silence for the victims of Yuvarde was shaken by a short panic as the turmoil near the stage sprinted people in horror.
The crowd quickly settled down, the man who caused the turmoil was detained, and park police told local media that no weapons were found, but some remained in shock and tears. Fred Gattenberg, the father of Parkland’s victims, went up to the podium to soften the crowd. “Unfortunately, someone has decided to show up and revive the fear of living with us every day.” – AFP
