Parents and Families to March in Hartford on Valentine's Day to Demand Safer Gun Laws
MARCH FOR CHANGE, a bi-partisan, action-driven grassroots effort started by two Fairfield County-area moms following the December 14th shootings in Newtown, CT, today announced a Valentine’s Day rally to demand change in common sense gun laws in the state of Connecticut on Thursday, February 14, at 11 AM at the State Capitol.
Angry and afraid in the wake of the shootings in nearby Newtown, Fairfield Country mothers Nancy Lefkowitz and Meg Staunton had the same reaction: “Something has to change and what are we going to do about it?” MARCH FOR CHANGE began as a casual gathering around Lefkowitz’s kitchen table for a few friends seeking solace following the devastating news.
Their efforts quickly mushroomed into an activation meeting two days later at a local church with over 250 people in attendance, including elected officials, community leaders and Congressman Jim Himes.
Working in partnership with CT Against Gun Violence (www.cagv.org and www.facebook.com/connecticutagainstgunviolence), a Connecticut non-profit organization dedicated to reducing gun violence through a common sense approach to public education and legislative advocacy, Lefkowitz and Staunton, along with a network of determined parents, presented an action plan with three initial goals:
1. Sign a petition at www.demandaplan.org;
2. Call the White House to demand change in the gun laws at the national level; and
3. March in Hartford to support common sense gun laws in Connecticut, including a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Whatever the ultimate language in the bill, Lefkowitz and Staunton assert that the MARCH FOR CHANGE will bring together a coalition of supporters and advocates, already over 1000 strong, to demand passage of comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation.
“In Connecticut, we are fourth in the country in terms of the strength of our gun laws, but we can do better,” said Lefkowitz. “There is a moment and that moment is right now. Something is broken and we need to make profound change.”
"After the unthinkable Newtown tragedy, the people have reached the tipping point. We are working to put together the most comprehensive anti-gun violence legislation in America," said Ron Pinciaro, Executive Director of CT Against Gun Violence. He continued, “Connecticut will become the template and the other states can follow our lead.”
Staunton added, “All eyes are on Connecticut, we can no longer be passive participants in this process. The politicians aren’t doing what we need them to and the opposition is loud and strong. As parents interested in the safety and wellbeing of our children, the time has come to be louder and stronger. We must demand that our legislators pass rational, common sense gun laws.”
“When we started this effort, we understood that people may have a different point of view, but I think we can all agree that we want to keep our kids safe. We are fighting to enact change what we believe are common sense laws that will do just that,” declared Staunton.
Lefkowitz emphasized, “We don’t want to fight guns with more guns. We need everyone that wants safer gun laws to join us in Hartford this Valentine’s Day. Our hearts are broken and now is the time to let our voices be heard.”
Individuals and organizations interested in participating in the MARCH FOR CHANGE can learn more at www.marchforchange.org.
Let the appointed Committee do their job. Fotr there is two sides, neither right nor wrong to the Story Don't condemm good people for this act. Ask yourself would this really stop the illegal weapons----No I hope all of you Moms Put down your cell phone as you drive your SUV's to Hartford !!!! I hope you extend on Valentines day a True Act of Kindness to some one,, get to know your neighbor and put the emotins on the shelf for a while---Let the Committee do it's job !!!!
Where do we meet? What time? What should we bring? Anybody want to carpool from Plainville, Ct? Mark Swanson 860-747-5012
Do some research Bob.
We could also prevent at least 10,000 deaths a year if we ban drunks from driving!! That would be awesome!
I don't get it Frederick..................if they are banned from driving........why are we still having over 10,000 deaths a year from drunk drivers in our country!? Something must be wrong! Maybe we need need MORE laws to ban them from driving!! I hope our legislators can work on this ASAP!!! Think of the Children!!!
sign up with contact information on our site and get others to do the same!
But more realistically, why don't some on the gun control side at least acknowledge that an armed citizenry has real and actual imact on preventing or interrupting crimes? Using analysis done by a respected anti-gun academic, there are over 100,000 crimes prevented or minimized each year due to the involvement of an armed citizen. Sould you not trust this analysis, know that it was undertaken to counter a pro-gun analysis which suggested more than 800,000 such incidents per year. So, assuming just 10% of those prevented crimes could have led to a homicide, that is 10,000 saved lives per year - more than the non-suicide gun death total per year. I wonder of the pro-gun community should schedule a counter march in Hartford on the same date and time? Who would draw more people?
My request would be if the good people behind March for Change would convene on online brain-storming session to consider the specific and real-world impact a ban on Armalite Rifles and 10+ round magazines will have on: Suicides Gun accidents involving children Domestic violence/known shooter situations Guns owned illegally Criminal street gun-crimes Statistically, these are the predominant contributors to general "gun violence which almost universally involves handguns, many illegal. Suicide, accidents & domestic situations, are all single-shot events. Yet, March for Change is backing the long-time, politically-driven agenda of CAGV which will do next to nothing to protect our children nor our communities. If these concepts worked, Chicago would be one of the safest cities in the USA. Sadly, I am concerned that this push for these ineffectual changes will stymie our pursuit of the more difficult but more critical changes that could actually identify potential rampage shooters before they hatch their schemes. Or while they are collecting the stuff he needs (always a "he" btw). More on the subject of magazine capacity here: http://wilton.patch.com/blog_posts/gun-violence-magazine-capacity-part-one
You said it..The NRA and the right wing wackos have held the county hostage way to long. We need to realize that they have become irrelevant.
You left wingers are helping the economy with all your gun control talk. "Irrelevant" Americans are buying guns faster than they can be produced. Cheers!