More than a thousand gun rights activists gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Saturday for what organizers call the first rally of its kind.
Rob Pincus, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Organization, helped organize the event. He said the rally came together in response to the spate of high-profile mass shootings over the summer and ongoing turmoil at the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“The gun lobby is more than any one organization, or even group of organizations. It really is all of the American gun-owning public,” Pincus said. “It’s up to us as advocates for our own rights to do a lot of the work, not just think that we can put on a bumper sticker or send in a check every year to any organization and think that it’s all taken care of.”
A slate of high-profile gun rights activists, including YouTuber Eric Blandford and Gun Owners of America’s Erich Pratt, roused attendees with calls for less government regulation and more gun freedoms.
“If you are not ready to die about this SHUT. UP.” – @MAJTOURE during today’s #2Arally pic.twitter.com/M2AlsSzYgB
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.@TopShotChris shared his experience being a member of the #lgbt community in the gun community during today’s #2Arally pic.twitter.com/A1TDA6Fcmv
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What’s At Stake
Many of the two dozen scheduled speakers warned of the potential consequences of a weakened Second Amendment, referencing instances of unrest in Venezuela, China and across the globe.
Kerry Slone focused her remarks at today’s #2arally on conversations with an activist from Hong Kong who said “we are so lucky to have the Second Amendment.” pic.twitter.com/HfMNK6YUl7
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For organizers, the event represented an opportunity to bring together different viewpoints under the gun rights banner and send a message to Congress about their willingness to mobilize.
Speakers called on attendees to unify — and vote — under the shared value of protecting the Second Amendment.
Addressing Mental Health And Suicide
While most of the early speakers at the event garnered a lively response from the crowd, remarks from Walk the Talk America’s Mike Sodini were met with silence, and eventually heckling, from some attendees.
Sodini took to the podium to discuss how gun owners should address firearms and mental health.
During his remarks, some in the crowd expressed frustration that the focus was being put too much on guns, not people.
At one point a voice in the crowd shouted: “You’re making it about the guns!”
But Sodini continued. #2Arally pic.twitter.com/jI8VnEOP4O
— Guns & America (@GunsReporting) November 2, 2019
But by the conclusion of Sodini’s remarks, the crowd once again broke into cheers.
Updated 11/02/2019 6:23 p.m. to include further reporting.
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