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Pro-“Sensible Gun Law” Protesters Hold Rally
< < Back toWASHINGTON – Protesters from the group We The People For Sensible Gun Laws rallied Monday, demanding the ban of assault weapons in favor of gun regulations announced by President Barack Obama.
Some protesters had personal reasons why they want guns banned from this country.
“I protest every Monday for my nephew,” said David Colbert, a member of the group.
Two years ago, Colbert lost his 28-year-old nephew, who suffered from depression and drug addiction, to suicide after he shot himself with his father’s gun.
“I was protesting even before this happened, but two years ago it hit my family directly,” Colbert said. “So, it really brought home the fact that guns are too readily available in this country. We have to put some reasonable restrictions in place,” he added.
Every Monday, Colbert along with 15 other protesters, stand in front of the White House to rally for sensible gun laws.
Today, they began rallying at 11 a.m. and interacted with people roaming around in front of the White House.
David Hurst, who stopped to ask questions about the rally, debated with a protester for a while about the issue.
“It may be terribly wrong to most people, but I don’t know, I probably wouldn’t change much of anything really,” Hurst said, regarding the current gun laws.
But Colbert believes that more needs to be done so people won’t have to go through the pain that he and his family are still suffering.
“We have to keep people safe, keep vulnerable people like my nephew safe,” Colbert said. “My sister may never get over it. She’s still very, very fragile.”
Colbert says he likes what Obama is doing with the gun laws, but he doesn’t like the fact it took him so long to initiate it.
“I think he could go further in what he’s doing, so we’ll see if he can do more,” Colbert said.
WOUB’s Erica King reported from Washington, D.C., where she is currently an intern with Scripps Howard Foundation.