The National Rally to #EndGunViolence is taking place in DC today, and Liberty Nation's own Scott D. Cosenza is on the ground to cover it. Organized by a broad coalition of more than 40 different groups, the event is taking place on the West Lawn at the U.S. Capitol.
LN will be bringing you photos, videos, analysis, and interviews throughout the day. Keep checking back in for updates.
Live Updates:
Just under 90 minutes in and it looks like the event is finishing. Originally booked to run until 3:30 EST, low turnout seems to have dampened enthusiasm.
With massive organizations like Amnesty USA and March for Our Lives hosting this event, the poor turnout will be seen as a major blow to their cause. However, despite drawing almost no crowd, it seems the sympathetic media is more than happy to ignore the numbers in favor of a narrative promoting "This is what Democracy looks like."
329,000,000 > 300
Truly strange notice from CNN's Lisa Ling:
Senator Richard Blumenthal in attendance.
From the event organizers: "America continues to ignore the easy access and love affair with guns that has blood flowing on its streets. It is time to unite together to put pressure on Congress to stop ignoring this public health crisis and hold Congress accountable for not taking action in passing common sense gun safety laws."
"No reason disadvantaged communities should have access to these weapons," says the passionate speaker.
https://twitter.com/libertynation/status/1176916436247293952
While analysis of the turnout is usually not done until after the event, with the extremely low turnout, it's worth asking questions. Clearly the two to three hundred people who attended are passionate enough about this cause to make a journey, but what is it about this event - that was organized by more than 40 separate groups, many of them major players - that kept people away?
“Everyday shootings are everyday problems... If you don’t do your job. Capitol Hill is not exempt.” Travon Bosley is a gun violence survivor from Chicago.
With less than three hundred attendees, Nancy Pelosi must be asking herself if she is quite the crowd-pleaser she thought she was. And what's more, if the cause she is highlighting is one that fellow Americans support?
Democrat Rep. John Lewis on stage saying "it is not safe to go to school!"
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
