The voice of Honorary Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton echoed over the lawns of the Washington Monument in staunch advocacy of the need for persistence in fighting for gun-control laws.
The crowd erupted in applause as Norton stood on stage in front of a banner that read, “When we stand together, we stand a chance.”
Nearly 1,000 people took part in a march on the National Mall Saturday in the hopes of advancing a movement that will push legislators to enact stricter gun-control laws.
Protestors met at the Capital Reflecting Pool at 10 a.m. wielding a variety of signs, then walked down Constitution Ave. until they reached the Washington Monument.
Senior Antonio Espinosa, whose parents heard about the event through the Washington National Cathedral listserve, avidly participated in the rally. The rally was organized just a month beforehand, which Espinosa thinks contributed to a lower turnout than he expected.
Residents of Newtown, Conn. flew to D.C. to show their support for the rally’s cause in memory of the 26 victims of the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They carried signs bearing the names of the victims, and other signs reading “we are Sandy Hook, we choose love,” and “I need my sons more than anyone needs their guns.”
Newtown residents wore green and white scarves, the colors of Sandy Hook Elementary. They also wore small VIP signs around their necks, which allowed them to walk at the head of the march and sit in the front row for all the speakers, Newtown native Debra Sourby said.
Molly Smith, an artistic director at Arena Stage in DC, and American Indian activist Suzanne Blue Star Boy organized the march. Sponsors of the event included One Million Moms for Gun Control, Foundry Methodist Church in DC, Washington National Cathedral and Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
The March on Washington for Gun Control will be the first of many events forming a full-force movement to fight for stricter laws, Smith said. Gun control supporters are pushing for legislation that bans assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and bullets that shatter inside the body, and enforces universal background checks and mandatory gun safety training, Smith said.
Speakers at the rally included D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Maryland representative Chris Van Hollen, actress Kathleen Turner, Children’s Defense Fund President Marion Wright Edelman and Colin Goddard, a survivor of the 2006 Virginia Tech shooting.
“We need to challenge any politician who thinks it’s easier to ask an elementary school teacher to stand up to a gun man with an AR-15 than it is to ask them to stand up to a gun lobbyist with a checkbook,” Goddard said in his speech.
Espinosa attended the event to support what he believes to be a simple and worthy cause.
“The fact that I live in a country where people find this, even after such a terrible tragedy, to be an outrageous request is terrifying,” Espinosa said. “It’s unreasonable to argue that you need these forms of weapons to protect yourself from the government, or that you’re going to use high capacity mags and assault weapons to go hunting.”
D.C. resident Mari Bailey showed her support at the march in commemoration of her son, Michael Hampton, who was fatally shot at the age of 21 in 2004.
“When it was my own son that was victimized, it made my battle against gun violence personal,” Bailey said. “The public needs to voice their support for this cause because mobilization will win us the legislation that we need.”
Julia Medine, Isaac Rubin and Katie Guarino contributed to this article and video.
