New Haven anti-gun violence rally calls for ‘saying their names’, action
NEW HAVEN — A church full of anti-gun violence activists and supporters gathered Thursday night, including some politicians, expressed their anger and impatience at the growing number of mass shootings in the United States.
Chanting “Not one more” and “Say their names,” speakers urged the crowd, mostly wearing Connecticut Against Gun Violence orange t-shirts, to take action, even in a state with some of the strictest firearms in the country.
The rally was moved from the Green to United Church on the Green due to rain.
The largest recent shootings that have sparked rallies like Thursday’s began May 14 at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY, where 10 people died. Next, 21 people were killed in a shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, and four were shot Wednesday at a hospital building in Tulsa, Okla.
Ebony McClease, legislative coordinator for Amity International USA and teacher at Wilbur Cross High School, said the Buffalo shooting “sparks great sympathy in my heart.” As a student at Canisius College, “living on Main Street, I called Buffalo home for a while,” she said.
“That Tops market was where I walked into with my friends in that same community. That community, that pain resonates with me because of my personal connection,” she said.
Janée Woods Weber of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund brought the story of the school shootings to Columbine High School in Colorado.
“I vividly remember the day Columbine performed in April 1999,” she said. “I stood in shock in front of my television wondering how the hell could this happen in our country and in a school. … I naively thought that Columbine was a unique tragedy. It was 23 years ago. And I’m so upset that I was so wrong.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who along with U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., is on a bipartisan committee looking for ways to strengthen gun laws, said he was optimistic despite the United States’ record of gun deaths.
“We don’t have more mental health problems than any other advanced country. We have many more murders. And it is an indictment of our nation,” he said. “What I see are the beginnings of possible action. I don’t want to exaggerate. I am very lucid about the obstacles and I move forward because I have seen Congress fail in these 10 years. I got to the heart of the matter. But I’m more encouraged than I have been in these 10 years that we can do bipartisan work here.
But he added: “Now is – let me put it bluntly – make or break time for Republicans.”
Several speakers spoke about the individual acts of gun violence that Blumenthal says kills 100 people every day in America.
“We are here in New Haven because we would be remiss if we did not focus on the real public health crisis of gun violence that also affects our urban communities, places like Hartford, Bridgeport and right here in New Haven,” said Jeremy Stein. , CEO of CAGV. “There was a shooting last week where a 15-year-old boy was killed on a bicycle. This must stop now.
He said people need to turn their feelings of anger, fear and helplessness into resolve, action and change.
Mayor Justin Elicker said phantom guns, which cannot be found, are becoming more common, with New Haven police seizing 19 so far this year, up from one this time last year. last. A total of 110 firearms were seized, compared to 73 in 2021.
“Guns aren’t going away, guys,” Elicker said. “Guns are coming in more and more, although Connecticut has strong legislation, some of the strongest in the country, we still see this type of activity.”
Elicker then, from memory, named 13 people who have died of gun violence in the past two years, interspersing the list with “Say their names.”
“The list goes on and on of people in our community who have died because of gun violence,” he said. “We owe them. We owe it to them to engage.
Leonard Jahad, executive director of Connecticut’s Violence Intervention Program in New Haven, spoke about the effects of continuous gunfire on children in the city.
“They hear gunshots almost every night, unfortunately. How do they go back to sleep and then function the next day at school and then have to go through drills and stuff, just to protect themselves? he said.
“Do you think they are not traumatized?” … What’s worse than a trauma? Untreated trauma. Our communities suffer from trauma,” Jahad added.
Terra Volpe, director of community outreach for CAGV, urged people to get involved by joining a letter-writing campaign called the Pen Power Project to send 10,000 ballots across the state. People can join by sending “letters” to 72572.
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