In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, a local chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence plans to host a silent protest on Saturday at Justin Herman Plaza to call attention to the need for stricter gun laws.
The protest will start at noon on the plaza, which has hosted everything from massive pillow fights to an Occupy San Francisco slumber party. After moments of silence for the victims, 20 of which were children between 4-6 y/o, protesters dressed in all black will join together for a "lie in" on the ground. According to their website the Brady Campaign aims to "make it harder for convicted felons, the dangerously mentally ill, and others like them to get guns in the first place" by passing laws requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, banning assault weapons and limiting purchases at gun shows and online. Also, Mark Ruffalo:
Saturday's lie-in is the first local protest we've heard about in the aftermath of last Friday's horrifying events, although gun buyback programs scheduled in advance and held last weekend were wildly successful in both San Francisco and Oakland. On a national level, President Obama has tasked VP Joe Biden and others to come up with new gun control legislation. Biden previously authored the 1994 bill that included a ban on assault weapons, but that ban expired in 2004. The National Rifle Association, for their part, offered a "shocked, saddened" response after days of silence following the tragedy.
