Mayors Against Illegal Guns rally only lightly attended by supporters

Examiner – by CLAUDE WERNER

The “No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence” rally in Atlanta today was more heavily attended by counter-ralliers from GeorgiaCarry.org by a margin of approximately two to one than by MAIG supporters. The rally was held at the State Capitol. The media covering the event also seemed to outnumber the Mayors Against Illegal Guns attendees. The GeorgiaCarry members were evident by their orange “Guns Save Lives” buttons. The Executive Director of GeorgiaCarry, Jerry Henry was present.

The event began with a reading of alleged murder victims killed by guns. However, one counter protestor carried a sign indicating that the list may not be all murder victims but is also heavily populated with justifiable homicides and suicides. A counter-rallier carried a sign pointing out that the Boston Marathon bomber shot and killed by police is one of the names on the list.  

View slideshow: MAIG Atlanta Rally photos

Much of the rally’s rhetoric was similarly long on drama but short on fact. There were no handouts available citing the sources for the statistics quoted. This led a number of counter-ralliers to question the statistics. One cited the Internet meme that “Ninety percent of statistics are made up on the spot.”

At 11:45 a.m., a “press conference” began with a series of speakers calling for ‘reasonable gun restrictions’, which, philosophically seemed to be limited to “universal background checks.” One speaker did expand the list of desired restrictions to include “persons subject to restraining orders should not be able to own guns.” A person subject to a restraining order is already prohibited from owning a gun under Federal law. The platform of the MAIG supporters seemed largely to consist of chanting “Background check, background check, background check.” This would then be followed by chants of “No more names, no more names, no more names.”

Mayor Earnestine Pittman of East Point made a short presentation. She invoked her faith by saying she is “Living the Christian Life unlike ‘The Right’.” She also called upon gun right advocates to “Unfurl the flag you have wrapped yourself in.”

There were many anti-gun platitudes repeated during the speakers’ presentations.

• We’re not keeping lists.
• If it saves one life, it’s worth it.
• Compromise legislation. It should be noted that this generally means “Compromise consists of you doing thing our way.”
• Common sense and reasonable solutions. One counter-rallier responded by saying “Shake off the chains of freedom.”
• Guns can be bought and sold on the Internet without a background check.
• The NRA does not represent gun owners, it represents gun manufacturers.
• We want to ‘feel safe.’
• The flawed “Ninety percent of Americans want background checks” meme was repeatedly invoked.
• A new statistic: “Eighty percent of Georgians, including gun owners, want background checks” was also added. The source for this statistic was not cited.

State Senator Vincent Fort, a stalwart of the gun control movement in Georgia, claimed the group spoke for “the mainstream.” He also made the statement that those who oppose gun control legislation are “loud, mean, and evil people.” Senator Fort stated “All we want to do is stop the bloodletting by the loudmouths of the unreasonable.” He did say that “We don’t want to take away anyone’s guns,” presumably as long as they’re not loudmouths or ‘unreasonable’.

No anti-gun rally would be complete without the invocation of “The Wild, Wild West.” So, Pastor Gary Charles of Central Presbyterian Church brought out that trite phrase during his ‘benediction’ of the event. He also made reference to “Myopic reading of the Second Amendment.”

The presentations ended about 12:40 p.m. and more alleged murder victims’ names were read.

http://www.examiner.com/article/mayors-against-illegal-guns-rally-only-lightly-attended-by-supporters