A group of 75 gun-control activists marched on the NRA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters on Monday, denouncing the organization with chants of “Shame on the NRA!” and deeming it responsible for the thousands of Americans who die each year as a result of gun violence.
“More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country,” said Josh Nelson, campaign manager for the progressive CREDO Action group that organized the protest, adding: “We call on the NRA’s lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws.”
One protester held a sign reading “SHUT DOWN TERRORIST-ENABLING NRA. FREEZE ASSETS” on one side, and “KILL THE 2ND AMENDMENT. NOT CHILDREN” on the other. The group repeatedly chanted “Shame on the NRA!”
But long-time activists among the group — which skewed older and white — said they were also filled with optimism about the chances of movement on gun control. In a speech Sunday night, President Barack Obama said the country was not doing enough to protect its children. On Monday morning, NRA-backed Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) called for action on gun control.
Martina Leinz, the president of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Million Mom March, was blunt when asked why gun control’s time had arrived.
“Twenty dead six-year-olds,” she said, referring to Friday’s massacre. “It’s just too horrible.”
“Now is the moment,” said Leinz, who has been working for gun control since the first Million Mom March 12 years ago. “Obama has the political will now, and the country is united behind him to stop the carnage.”
Eddie Weingart, a 34-year-old man who held a simple sign reading “I AM A VICTIM OF GUN VIOLENCE,” said he had been attending pro-gun control protests since he was 14. Weingart’s mother was killed by her ex-husband when he was only two years old. Weingart said the man turned the gun on him, but it malfunctioned, saving his life.
While he has seen the movement’s ranks grow after each previous mass shooting — Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson, Ariz., and Aurora, Colo. — he said he was more confident in action now than ever before.
“It’s raised my optimism,” Weingart said of the response. “I really believe that this is going to be addressed.”
“As long as the NRA is going to keep going the way they are — in silence and denial — we’re going to keep seeing this,” Weingart added.
The group marched the short distance from Spirit of Justice Park near the Capitol to the NRA’s federal lobbying headquarters on 1st Street SE.
There were no counterprotesters, except for a single man who repeatedly yelled “Arm The Teachers” out a nearby window before coming outside and bellowing the same slogan. (The NRA has kept silent since the massacre, shutting down its Facebook page and avoiding Twitter.)
“The truth is that if there was one teacher or principal armed, they could’ve end the violence with one shot,” said Larry Ward, the president of Political Media, a GOP advertising firm with offices on the same block as the protest.
While organizers managed to keep most of the protesters away from Ward, they couldn’t stand in the way of the media, which rushed over to cover the lone gun-rights supporter.
“Folks, what we’re here for is over here,” march organizer Andrew Nazdin said to reporters, pointing back to the mass of protesters.
