Boston gun control rally set for Sunday afternoon
"We'll be the ones in the red shirts."
A gun control rally is scheduled for Sunday afternoon on Boston City Hall Plaza, featuring speakers U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
The rally, which starts at 3 p.m., follows dozens of others organized by grassroots activist group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which has a chapter in every state.
“We’ll be the ones in the red shirts,” the website said. “You can’t miss us.”
Organizers are pressing Congress to tighten the nation’s gun safety laws in the wake of recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio and northern California. Legislation around required background checks on all gun sales, as well as the “red flag” bill making it easier to take guns away from individuals at risk of harming themselves or others, are among activist demands.
Similar rallies were hosted around the country Saturday. The rallies, also coined “Recess Rallies,” come during the U.S. Senate’s Aug. 5 to Sept. 6 break. The August recess is a longstanding tradition for the U.S. Senate, where members of Congress break to spend time with family, meet with constituents in their home states, or catch up on summer reading, according to the United States Senate website.
“As the Senate is back home for recess, gun sense activists are keeping the fight close to home by showing up to our senators’ district offices to demand action,” the Moms Demand Action website said.
Sen. Ed Markey is an advocate for stricter gun safety laws. After the El Paso shooting, he tweeted, “Not again. In MA we took matters in our own hands. We identified the problems of gun violence, put our communities and public safety officers first, and passed gun laws. We now have the lowest level of gun deaths in the country. This is not a coincidence.”
Not again. #ElPasoShooting
In MA we took matters into our own hands. We identified the problems of gun violence, put our communities and public safety officers first, and passed gun laws. We now have the lowest level of gun deaths in the country. This is not a coincidence.
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) August 3, 2019
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is also a proponent for strict gun safety laws. In early August, he joined a bipartisan group made up of 214 mayors from across the country that called on the Senate to return to Washington and take “immediate action” on gun safety legislation.
In the wake of the tragic events in #ElPaso and #Dayton, a bipartisan group of 214 mayors from across the country are calling on the Senate to return to Washington and take immediate action on bipartisan gun safety legislation. #MayorsDemandAction https://t.co/lkG4lSFQbF
— U.S. Mayors (@usmayors) August 8, 2019
“The epidemic of gun violence in our nation isn’t taking a vacation and neither should Congress until they pass meaningful gun violence prevention measures,” wrote the Massachusetts chapter of Moms Demand Action. They ask that everyone wear red to Sunday’s rally, if possible.
