Several gun groups will honor the date 20 children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary with “Guns Save Lives Day.” The national Second Amendment Foundation, as well as the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and DefendGunRights.com anticipate participation across 50 states to counter an “anticipated push by the gun prohibition lobby to exploit the anniversary of the Newtown tragedy to push their political agenda.”
“We are going to show America that there is a good side to guns,” the groups’ petition says. Declaring that gun owners have been victimized in the debate post-Newtown, they request people send donations. “We plan to honor these victims by doing everything within our power to prevent misguided gun control laws from leaving Americans defenseless or worse victims. Don’t be a victim, ARM YOURSELF and help ARM our movement with the resources we need to protect and restore our nation’s gun rights.”
Gun rallies have taken a variety of forms since mass shootings propelled gun violence to national attention. These include an activist’s aborted plans to storm Washington, D.C. with firearms, men with assault rifles intimidating moms, and armed customers descending on a Starbucks in Newtown.
But this is the first time gun activists have claimed December 14 for their own agenda.
“To hold a gun-glorifying event on Dec. 14, a day when America will remember the slaughter of 26 innocent Americans, including teachers and first-grade students, can be deemed nothing less than abject evil,” Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America said in a statement.