A group of 100 New Yorkers rallied near Lincoln Center Thursday night to speak out against gun violence following Wednesday’s high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Members of Gays against Guns, or GAG, said Wednesday’s shooting needs to be a wake-up call to elected officials to do better when it comes to gun control.
“Our schools are supposed to be safe havens for our children,” GAG member and Bronx schoolteacher Brigid McGinn said. “Our teacher’s jobs are to educate.”
The rally members sang versions of various songs such as “God Bless America” and “Take me Out to the Ballgame,” with altered lyrics criticizing Congress and the NRA for blocking attempts to legislate gun control laws in the face of numerous mass shootings across the country.
Mom’s Demand Action volunteer Sonni Mun, of lower Manhattan, said it’s been a struggle to raise her son following each incident.
“My son’s milestones are being measured by mass shootings,” she said.
GAG member Stefanie Wess said the rally was an important step to show the friends and families of the victims in Florida that they were not alone in their anger and sadness.
“This is about solidarity,” she said. “I’m a teacher, and it was scary for me to see those images.”
Although the state banned assault rifles and bolstered background checks following the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings, State Sen. Brad Hoylman said the federal government needs to do more to close the loopholes.
“Any of those guns, those AR-15s, can make their way to New York and we can’t stop it,” he said.
