Five Corners will be site of gun control rally

By
Brian Dowd
-
26
Sarah Nevin of Edgartown, seen here at a recent women's march, will be helping to lead a rally in support of the March For Our Lives Saturday at Five Corners. —Gabrielle Mannino

Want to support March for Our Lives, but can’t make it to the rally in Washington, D.C.?

The Martha’s Vineyard Peace Council is organizing a standout at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven in support of the national effort.

The standout will take place Saturday, March 24, at 11:30 am and end at 1 pm.

Sarah Nevin, co-chair of the council with her husband Bruce, told the Times she doesn’t know how many people will attend, but expects a large turnout.

“Gun violence is a continuing problem,” Nevin said. “The peace council has always been a mobilizing force.”

The council has organized several peace activities over the years, including an annual gathering at Gay Head Light in Aquinnah to recognize the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The council is also represented in the Fourth of July parade in Edgartown each year.

People attending the Five Corners event are encouraged to bring signs and posters.

Nevin voiced her support of the March for Our Lives protest, saying there needed to be “much tighter gun laws.”

“Nobody wants to stop hunting,” Nevin said. “Hunting is different than shooting kids in school. We want to stop casual, irresponsible gun laws.”

 

26 COMMENTS

  1. Gun Control Rally? No, Anti-Gun Violence In Our Schools Rally. Big difference. Words matter, but then you know that. You’re a newspaper.

    • 17 were killed at Parkland. 32 were killed at Virginia Tech. 26 were killed at Sandy Hook. 13 were killed at Columbine. Live matter, but then you don’t want to say that. You like guns.

      • I’m in support of the rally and will be at Five Corners in support of March For Our Lives protesters tomorrow. It is a protest against gun violence. Calling it a
        “Gun Control Rally” in the headline will alienate gun owners who might otherwise show up and speak out in support ending gun violence.

      • How come the 500 lives lost every year in Chicago, mostly minorities..don’t matter? How come no protests? Its not the gun. Its the thug using it. How are the strictest gun control laws in the nation working for the residents of Chicago?

        • I believe there is a good-sized contingency going to DC from Chicago. I saw some young Chicagoans interviewed today who are representing. The eloquence of so many of these young people gives me great hope for the future.

        • Maybe if bad guys in Chicago didn’t find so easy to drive down the road to legally purchase in a state with lax laws, Chicago wouldn’t have as many bad guys with guns.

          While gun ownership goes up, non-gun crime dropped. Embarrassing for control advocates. But gun deaths stayed constant and school shootings have continued.

          I recently read the New York City Police Department did a study, discovered when it’s more difficult to commit a crime, the crime rate goes down. That might support more (concealed?) guns mean less gun crime except: there are more guns and gun deaths are not dropping. If concealed carry reduced gun deaths, then those should have dropped along with other crime rates.

          Conclusion: humans obtaining more guns does not reduce gun deaths. And hold that “good guy with a gun” argument. Either re-educate humans who obsess over gun ownership or don’t allow them guns.

          Good guy with a gun argument: Gun deaths drop during gun shows and since attendees all are good guys, means either it’s good guys committing crimes or the good guys are the normal source of guns for bad guys.

          • You are wrong. An Illinois resident may not legally purchase a pistol in Indiana (or anywhere else) Federal law (that the thugs in Chicago laugh at) prohibits it. If they are legal to buy a ‘long gun’ *rifle.shotgun* in their home state, then its up to the Federal firearm dealer in another state if they want to sell it to a non resident. Generally the inner city thugs are usually handguns, obtained illegally from ‘straw’ buyers elsewhere. There are plenty of federal laws prohibiting this that are rarely enforced since the fed are after the ‘big fish’ and rely upon the states and cities to enforce their laws. Apparently Chicago does a poor job. None of the news media wants to do a simple story. “FOLLOW” the gun. Every one has a serial number, traceable to its source, from manufacturer to buyer. Simply doing so and prosecuting those who break the law would mean fewer illegal firearms, and fewer gun traffickers. Unfortanately it doesn’t fit the liberal narrative of ‘blaming the NRA” for every nut that breaks the law. And in the case of the FL nut, law enforcement failed at least 16 times to act. And other backround checks (NICS) where the feds failed to do their job, or the military failed to alert the FBI. The good guy with the gun isn’t the problem. Its an inner city culture where ‘snitches get stitches’ so nobody talks to the police. But that’s not what you’ll hear on the news.

          • @notnewhere For the laughs (because that’s what you’ll hear), tell your elected representatives in Congress you want gun serial numbers kept in a timely and up to date, permanent, and easily accessible database. And don’t insult by saying that database already exists.

          • @notnewhere First, the argument that bad people ignore laws and get guns however they can. This assumes only good people buy guns legally. Except your “bad people” could be pretending to be good people.

            Also, if whatever passes as a practical gun database existed, the NRA would be bragging non-stop if complete weapon tracking proved all guns with a complete owner history had been used for a crime. But they’re they’re not bragging, are they? At least not on Fox Entertainment channel.

          • Every time I bought a gun, the local MA dealer filled out the MA forms and Federal forms recording the serial numbers. The federal documents are forwarded to the ATF *alcohol tobacco firearms’. No idea if the local PD or state police gets the MA form. Shame on them if they don’t enter in a computer in a timely fashion. But make no mistake about it, BOTH state and local do have the records of the firearms transfers. Serial # and buyer/seller info. No idea what its like in the states with ‘loose’ regulations, but they still must comply with the federal laws and register the serial#. Of course we are supposed to rely on these folks to do their jobs. My friends who are police officers DO routinely run the serial # of guns they confiscate so the database already does exist.

          • @notnewhere quote: “If they are legal to buy a ‘long gun’ *rifle.shotgun* in their home state, then its up to the Federal firearm dealer in another state if they want to sell it to a non resident.”
            That’s a confirmation that a bad guy can cross state lines and become a good guy to buy a weapon. The gun shop rubber stamps.

        • not new here–we have no idea how many gun deaths there would be in Chicago if the laws were more lax. Could be a thousand a year.. 5 thousand– 10 thousand– the more logical question is why did congress prohibit any federal agencies ( most notably the cdc ) from compiling statistics and doing studies on gun violence ? You can have your opinion, but the fact is the federal government is actively suppressing data on the subject. It’s no wonder that republicans are opposed to gun regulations– they don’t like facts, and as long as the nra can continue to suppress them, we will have ignorant people on both sides of the argument. That is not the way to run a democracy. A good democracy depends on an informed electorate.

          • Dondon12.. bad guys don’t obey the laws. They obviously are not deterred by the restrictive laws in Chicago that are not enforced. Perhaps its time for the feds to do what the local Chicago pd fails to to. Charge those arrested with illegal firearms under the existing federal statutes that would put the lawbreakers away for a long time. (not some state charge that routinely gets plead bargain down to a lesser offense) Collecting statistics is a ‘feel good’ thing and does nothing to address the problem. (Thanks to democracy the stats are readily available NOW for free from the states and media so why waste federal $$ to duplicate that-Nobody is suppressing anything and im fine with the govt doing so. just another waste of $$) maybe the same federal employees that are supposed to stop junk faxes, junk email, and robo calls can waste more money without stopping the carnage) Just send the feds in and prosecute the bad guys. Without going too far off topic, there is a culture of violence within places like Chicago that can only be solved by the residents refusing to accept their drug dealing residents who rely upon their illegal firearms to enforce their ‘street mantra’. And if we are going to waste taxpayers money on useless data, lets also include the number of lawbreaker thugs with NRA membership cards. I doubt there will be any.

          • Dondondon is again using elitism word games and hypotheticals. Everyone knows that 99.9 percent of gun owners are not going to use them to kill anyone. Everyone knows that a culture of violence which is PC incorrect exists in the inner cities. Everyone knows that most of the shootings were done by mentally ill people who have not been institutionalized. Yet the liberals want to do away with guns and dont tell us how it could be done. Rallies and cheap talk wont solve this issue and everyone knows it.

          • @notnewhere A Federal database would be standard across the country, state databases would not. And you’re using junk mail to defend poor tracking of weapons ownership?
            Still waiting for an answer why someone who buys legally is automatically a “good guy with a gun.” You’re welcome to use Parkland as an example because the law that might have blocked the shooter from buying was revoked February 2017.

          • @new Englander there IS a federal database with serial number of guns manufactured and sold. I don’t get your ‘junk mail’ analogy. I haven’t bought a gun in years so for all I know the records are instant and electronic registration now. If someone is legally entitled to buy a gun, then its their right. Unfortunately in the case you referenced the law enforcement FAILED at least 16 times to act upon reports of his mental problems. AND, I don’t live in FLA, I live HERE, and the police here in MA ROUTINELY confiscate guns and revoke FID cards. It makes news because one nutcase was legally able to purchase a gun and do terrible things. So the media reaction funded by Bloomberg and Soros is to punish legal gun owners. No mention of the 500 plus deaths a year in Chicago alone by ILLEGAL firearms. That’s ok?? Why won’t the police do their jobs?? Nobody can argue with backround checks, and mental illness checks, but the hype against legal gun owners, the majority of which are law abiding is nothing but political posturing. By the way limousine liberals like Bloomberg and Soros have personal armed guards.

          • andrew– come on. I am using “elite word games”? whatn does that mean ? Is it “elitist” that I can string together a coherent sentence and back it up with some facts ? If someone says the glock 9 has the same stopping power of an ar 15 and I know different , and can look it up ,I am “elite”. Take a look at where you live and think about who is “elite” . I can articulate a point that is based in fact, and you criticize me ? let’s address the issues rather than stoop to the level of a third grade argument.
            Fact is whale oil stated something that is demonstrably not correct. other 2 a rights nuts constantly focus on Chicago. What’s the big deal adout Chicago ? Yup —Obama is from there– What’s the big deal ? The article was about the march for our lives– organized by teenagers– Chicago has problems- the entire U.S has a gun problem.. Focus..

  2. the most recent shooting in Maryland highlights the reason to ban assault weapons– The shooter there had a pistol. He shot and injured 2 people — then was taken down by the officer on site. If he had an ar 15– he might have killed 12 people in that 45 seconds it took for the officer to arrive– Then he might have take him down and moved on– The no deaths there were partly because of a qualified, trained and courageous officer, and partly because of the lack of an assault weapon.

    • Glock9 shoots just as fast, has similar stopping power. You are the reason people don’t listen to this non sense.

      • Whale oil– just because you pull a “fact” out of thin air does not mean it is true…
        The kinetic energy measured in joules from:
        ar- 15 slug is 1854
        9 mm glock handgun slug is 467
        http://wredlich.com/ny/2013/01/projectiles-muzzle-energy-stopping-power/

        you are correct about the firing rate, which is dependent on how fast the trigger can be pulled. That’s about 45 rounds per minute. For both the pistol and the ar 15 —
        but the pistol carries 12 rounds per clip the ar 15 can go as high as 50.
        So , if we do a little math — we can see that in one minute, the ar 15 can put out 83430 joules of ke. without a reload.
        The 9 mm handgun would have to be reloaded
        twice to get off that many shots– take off 4 seconds for each reload — that gives the 9 mm about a maximum of 39 shots per minute, or 18,231 joules of ke. per minute.
        That means the at 15 can put out 4.5 times the kinetic energy of a handgun in the same period of time.
        I don’t think I am the reason people don’t listen to this non sense. The numbers don’t lie. If someone chooses to not believe the horrific power of assault weapons, it is not because of my “non sense”, it is because of outright lies, or willful ignorance.
        Or perhaps some people are actually stupid enough to believe your post.

      • Question 1: Would you prefer being downrange of an active shooter with a 9mm Glock or AR15?

        Question 2: How will you know whether the shooter with the Glock has a standard or extended magazine?

        Question 3: You are being shot at with the intent that you die. Who should we bet on?

  3. I’m glad we agree on a portion, rof, of that so now let’s go a step further – and try to sift through some of the above- you can shove some pretty stupidly large magazines in either weapon so that point is mute. (What size you can put into it depends on which state you live in, if we’re talking legally. )
    However, if you have practiced a lil on either platfrom, you know that reload time is also practically nothing (I’m guessing you haven’t because 4 seconds? If you are blind and drop it twice, yeah that’s about right. Otherwise again that is mute and tactically irrelevant )
    Ar15 are typically blacked out, and scary looking, in video games and tv- that does not mean that media inspires people to do evil things , but the carrying of them is made to look pretty cool, tactical, etc. I don’t understand why everyone shouts about the AR platform when there are very readily accessible higher caliber handguns and higher caliber rifles. If anyone was serious about this argument then they would probably target those other platforms first…since they could actually do the most harm. No one ever talks about 1911s or mini30 ranch rifles because they don’t fit the scary looking narrative enough. That’s part of the reason I continue to see this all as incredibly aritificial and insincere.

    • For some reason, gun proponents get technical when they defend the AR15. It’s a weapon designed and manufactured to kill. That it and others of the genre have been common in mass shootings suggests that *just maybe* appearance appeals to a certain mindset, of most concern are those intending to kill humans.

      Hardware stores sell shovels, if you’ll like to keep digging that hole.

  4. ok– just a few additional points– Gabby Giffords was shot in the head at near point blank range. She survived– shooter was stopped by unarmed by standers when he was reloading. I don’t own a gun. so I don’t know about how adept you have to be to change the clip in one second. And if you are really good, have it all together, and are changing clips in your living room, perhaps a second is achievable. But if you are the active shooter, you are in a situation where there is a lot going on..
    You might actually drop it–
    But regardless of my reducing the number of shots per minute, the kinetic energy in the ar 15 is still 3.9 times that of the glock. That’s a lot of flesh–and definitely not the same “stopping power”
    And we don’t talk about the other weapons you mention, because they do not seem to be used in mass shootings. But I’m fine with banning them also.
    And in case you are wondering, I am not in favor of repealing the second amendment– I just think there should be reasonable laws governing guns. You can’t drive your car as fast as you want, but some people speed. That doesn’t mean we should not have speed limits..

Comments are closed.

Previous articleGet ready to rock: Summer Concert Series lineup
Next articleDonating sales to Connect

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR