Local Clergy, Moms Demand Action and others join local political committee to rally for sensible gun control reforms

Messages printed on T-shirts worn and homemade signs held by many of those gathered at the Village Commons/Gazebo area at the center of the Town of Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District at 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon, June 11, said it all:

“How Many DEAD CHILDREN is ENOUGH?”

“Love Children NOT GUNS’

“I want to Go to my grandson’s Graduation, Not his funeral”

“This teacher has had ENOUGH”

“Thoughts and Prayers are NOT ENOUGH! COMMON SENSE GUN REFORM NOW!

“We want Common Sense Gun Control! Red Flag Law, Secure Gun Storage, Raise Age Limit for Buying …

And one referencing a famous victim of gun violence’s song of hope for a better future: “Imagine …no gun violence” with an image of John Lennon’s characteristic round, wire-rim glasses left on the ground outside his NYC home after he was shot in the back by a deranged religious zealot in 1980.

Event organizers and speakers acknowledging the victims, both children and adults, of the recent wave of mass shooting murders across America made it clear this was NOT a rally to violate anyone’s 2nd Amendment right to own and bear arms. In fact, some speakers acknowledged being gun owners themselves.

Rather, it was a call for the United States Congress, particularly the Senate now that a majority of the House of Representatives has forwarded a Gun Reform Bill on to the Senate, to follow the will of a majority of the American public, including gun owners, for “sensible” gun reform. Depending on which poll you reference, estimates are from 53% of Americans favoring stricter gun laws than exist today, to an even higher percentage favoring stricter measures on the purchase of semi-automatic weapons.

In addition to remembering the names of the dead from a Uvalde, Texas elementary school to a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, recent youthful suicides utilizing firearms were recalled by speakers to point out the necessity of more comprehensive, sensible regulations around the ownership and possession of firearms.

But one overarching question remains: Is the for-profit sale of guns lobby really still powerful enough and so deep into the pockets of enough American politicians, to dictate our gun control laws in the face of the repeated mass murder of, not only adults but elementary school children, as well as the above-referenced increase in teen suicides?

It would seem we are about to find out.

Saturday’s event was hosted by the Warren County Democratic Committee, which was joined by several pro-gun law reform groups including Moms Demand Action and Be Smart for Kids. Speakers included event moderator and current WC Democratic Committee Chairman Paul Miller, a teacher who “has had enough” Nancy Smith, Moms Demand Action’s Katie and Mike Fox, Amanda Gorman and Rebecca Altizer, and Pastor Ingrid Chenoweth of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Event moderator Paul Miller holds the megaphone for opening speaker, teacher Nancy Smith as she emotionally recalled the lives of the Robb Elementary School dead. Below, Miller continues his megaphone duties with Pastor Ingrid Chenoweth. Photos by Roger Bianchini/ Video by Mike McCool.

Pastor Chenoweth took an interesting perspective on the biblical story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son to prove his devotion to his Creator. Has it been read wrong in modern spiritual teaching, she asked. Rather than wait for God to bail him out of such a sacrifice, should Abraham’s answer have been, “No, I will not sacrifice my child to prove devotion to you because the God I worship would not ask for such a sacrifice,” Pastor Chenoweth asked.

“Maybe this ancient story is a lesson that the God of love and light and life and justice wants us to value the lives of our children and other innocent people more than anything else. And I think that’s the lesson that all the Scripture teaches. And yet over and over again, as a nation we sacrifice our children … We sacrifice our young people when we decide as a nation that mental health care is too expensive. And the bodies of our children are quite literally being sacrificed to the idea that untrained, civilian 18-year-olds should freely carry AR-15s and other weapons of war …”

Moms Demand Action and Be Smart for Kids think the 2nd Amendment and common sense proactive preventive measures to protect lives, especially those of our children, can be balanced.

See her remarks in full and those of all other speakers, including teacher Nancy Smith’s emotional opening statement recalling the names of the Robb Elementary School dead, in this exclusive Royal Examiner video.