Transcripts For CSPAN3 Rally Outside The Supreme Court Against Gun Violence 20240713

Lawsuit on a repealed new york handgun regulation. Speakers voiced their opposition to the nra, called for tougher gun laws and shared stories about the impact of gun violence. No more silence End Gun Violence no more silence End Gun Violence good morning, everybody. Hey. All right. Everybody get this party started. First thing, put your right hand up. Put your left hand up. Round of applause. All right. Were going to be loud all day long because, one, were in front of the Supreme Court, two, we got some haters here. So give we that one more time. Let me hear you. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right. My name is greg jackson. Im going to be your emcee for the day. First of all, big shoutout to march for our lives for picking us up. Give it up for march for our lives. I see moms demand action. Give it up for moms demand action. I see every town here. Give it up for every town. I see brady here. Where brady at . Were hearing numbers, were so proud. Im so proud of being here, having you all here. Before we get started, there are a lot of people who did not survive gun violence that could not be here today so were going to have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives to gun violence right now. Wellregulated militia made necessary guy, rude. Ugly. Really rude. Please respect the constitution. All right. Were back at it. Thank you, guys, so much for that moment of silence. And i appreciate you all respecting those who cannot be here today. We see exactly where the opposition stands where it comes to losing life in this country. Exactly. So i got going to be talking to you all today, when i say enough, i want you to say its enough its enough. Enough its enough. Enough its enough. Every year, over 100,000 people are either shot or killed by gun violence and we are here to stand for those folks today. We have an Amazing Group of people here who are going to speak about the importance of ending gun violence and how gun laws saves lives. Were going to hear from them all day long. If we ever hear the haters get too loud, what are we going to say . Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Awesome. Youre going to hear from me a lot today. In 2013 i was shot about a mile from here from gun violence. Every day, people are plagued by gun violence. Here in washington, d. C. , over 150 people have been shot this year. Some people who have passed from gun violence were not necessarily part of that. One of my mentees was only 10 years old when he was shot down in southeast, only two miles away from here at a mcdonalds. Two weeks after he led his own gun violence prevention rally just like today. Im here to stand for him. Im here to stand for everyone who could not be here today who are fighting every day to reduce violence in their own unique ways. I want to thank you guys for being here. Give yourselves one more round of applause. Love it. I love it. All right. So were going to introduce our first speaker, kelly simpson, who is with Brady Council constitutional litigation, Legal Alliance of racial justice. Give it up for kelly. Im here as a proud member of team brady, council for constitutional litigation Legal Alliance and racial justice. Im a d. C. Resident and im a native detroiter. When i was a little girl, i used to imagine how my life would be different if only i lived in the suburbs. I imagined being able to freely ride my bike, hang out with my friends whenever i wanted and go to the store any time of day. Dont get me wrong, the detroit of my youth wasnt nearly as warlike as the media would have you believe. I cant deny that gun violence was and is a real problem. Lurking behind my sweetish childhood memories like curling up with my favorite book, dressing my dolls and playing board games with my family lies anxiety, like hiding in the basement every new years eve to avoid stray bullets, fleeing from a fireworks celebration when gun violence broke out and interacting with merchants who stood behind bulletproof glass. There was good, there was bad. There was fun and there was boring. There was safe and there was dangerous. And under these binaries, i couldnt help but imagine that if i lived in the suburbs my life would be better because from what i could tell, kids there didnt have to raise their lives around being shot like i did. That was then. This is now. And i know like you know that gun violence, which includes suicide, homicide, mass violence, and Domestic Violence, happens everywhere. And thats why im here today because we have the right not to be shot. And [ cheers and applause ] and thats not just rhetoric. The Second Amendment is not supreme. Its just one of the many rights and privileges laid out in the constitution. The Second Amendment comprises just 27 of the constitutions 7,591 words. And those words, the declaration of independence, case law and our entire system of government make it clear that our rights are not unlimited. I cant do whatever i want whenever i want, however i want, if its going to endanger someone else. This rally is a perfect example. Speaking to you today, im exercising my First Amendment right to free speech but that doesnt mean have the right to use my time here to incite the crowd to mob violence. That will go beyond the scope of the right. The Second Amendment is no different. In courts, indeed, the Supreme Court, has made it clear that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited. The government has authority to pass reasonable regulations to protect our right not to be shot and uphold Public Safety. When i was a kid, i could hold on to the idea that i could avoid the gun violence that plagued my city simply by moving a few miles outside of town. Todays kids dont even have that. They know that gun violence is a menace to suburbs and concrete jungles, mountain villages and beach towns, lonely apartments and classrooms. Theres no constitutional reason why we cant listen. All right, everybody. Give it up for kelly. When i say sun laws, you say save lives. Ready . Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Were going to remix it. You guys are going to say gun laws. You guys save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. Gun laws save lives. That was awe . That was awesome, guys. All right. Please give a big round of our pla applause to our next speaker from march for our lives, tatiana from wisconsin. Hi, everyone. I hope every single one of you are proud of yourselves. Its so beautiful to look autoown see all of you. What were doing here today is valid and bigger than ourselves. Today i want to speak specifically to my peers. In doing so, i hope my words will encourage generations before we to understand why those who look like me, play fortnite, spend hours watching and making tiktok videos, voices are vital in this movement. So to my fellow youth, do not listen to snin wanyone to tries dismiss you and your voice because your resilience is urgent. Were here fighting because nearly 100 people die from guns every day. We are fighting because sandra parks cant. We are fighting because Trayvon Martin cant. We are fighting because tate jackson cant. We are fighting because tamir rice cant. Were fighting because sheda davis cant. The last name was my aunt. She was shot in her chest, her stomach, and her leg by her husband who then turned the gun on himself. Their two children who were then 8 and 12 at the time were present at the time the tragedy happened and my then12yearold cousin performed cpr on his mother but she later died in the hospital. Even though gun violence has broken my family, i am not antigun. Both of my parents are Law Enforcement officers, and i grew up with guns in my house. I also understand that none of us defserve to be shot. We have the right to not be shot. And as ive been grieving my aunts death, i keep asking myself, what happened to the American Dream . Children, little children, are losing time out of their school day to practice what to do when someone decides to turn a sacred space for education into a murder scene. Black and brown youth are terrified of being gunned down by those who are supposed to serve and protect us. What is the American Dream . We have the right to not be shot. To my youth, our age does not limit our power. Throughout history, youth have always had an Important Role in making a change. Its been said the duty of youth is a challento challenge corrup. Thats exactly what were doing here today. I urge you to continue doing that. To never, ever let anyone tell you that your opinion, your voice, your say, is useless. Your voice is the most powerful tool you have. Use it for change and never remain silent. Stay strong, and may you all find strength in your voices. Thank you. Give it up for tatyana one more time, yall. All right. I forgot one group, but theyre an Amazing Group. Please give a shoutout to gays against guns up there with a sign. Doing a great job. Holding us down. All right. Next, were going to introduce our next speaker. We have Jason Lindsay. Jason, you here . Come on up, good sir. All right. Before we do that, though, i have one quick announcement. Sorry, guys. If you are in a volvo with the license plate 13844e from indiana you may get towed. Its over there to the right. So if youre in a volvo, a great car. My first car was a volvo. Please go move your car so you dont get towed. With that said, were going to turn it over to Jason Lindsay. Welcome, jason. Good morning. My name is Jason Lindsay and im the founder and executive director of pride fund to End Gun Violence. I am also an iraq war veteran who has served on the battlefield and seen what weapons of war do to people. We do not need weapons of war on our streets. I keep hearing the chant that guns dont kill people, but guess what, guns kill children every single day where theyre unsecured where their parents dont lock them up, so when i hear a chant that guns dont kill people, that people kill people, well, i dont think a toddler should be held responsible when he kills himself from an unsecured firearm. By attending today, youre not only honoring those who tragically lost their lives to gun violence but also the many, many others that are impacted as a result of gun violence. We stand united in the call for action. Our elected leaders and our legal system to address the gun violence epidemic. Pride fund to End Gun Violence was born out of the tragedy of the pulse nightclub shooting. It was just 3 1 2 years ago that the horror was unfolding, lives were ended, the country wept and the way we look at everything changed. Here in d. C. On saturday, june 11th, 2016, most of us here in d. C. Were celebrating gay pride. We were filled with joy and pride for the love of our Lgbtq Community. We woke up in the next morning to the devastating news about the tragedy at pulse. In the early hours of june 12th, 49 individuals and 53 others were injured in what was the worst mass shooting in our country at the time. The fact that it occurred at a celebration during pride month made it all that much worse. For our community, gay bars are safe spaces where we can go and be ourselves and be at one with our community. Our safe space was violated just like so many others. The shooting cast a dark cloud over the city of orlando, our country, and even the world. Our spaces were violated and death touched everyone there. As ive traveled throughout orlando, ive met so many families and so many people. Many people in the orlando gay community, if you knew one victim, you knew many. Because thats how tight knit the community was. In the days following pulse, i decided that there was enough was enough. I had not been involved in the Gun Reform Movement until then, but i could no longer sit on my hands. As a gay man, i felt targeted and i was angry and i was ready to act. I knew as an iraq war veteran i could bring something to the table. I knew the Lgbtq Community needed our own unique organization to fight for gun reform so i created pride fund. We fight for common sense gun laws. We support candidates who are willing to stand up for our rights. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with victims all over the country. The time to act on gun violence is now. Last year, alone, more than 40,000 americans lost their lives to gun violence including murders, mass shootings, accidents, suicides, and children accidentally shooting themselves. When will we reach the Tipping Point . Now when will congress act . Now when will our courts act . Now today, our Judicial Branch has the opportunity to do the right thing and vote for the common sense gun safety. For too long, lawmakers in our court system has failed in their responsibility to keep us safe. Its our turn to make sure we are safe. For all of you that are on the ground doing the important work and are here today, keep fighting, and lets take it up a notch. The last year and a half to two years has showed us what the power of the people can do. Look at the building behind you, and look at how many new members of congress we have that ran on common sense gun safety and defeated nra candidates. The days of the nras political power is over. Do not give up. Keep up the fight. And thank you for being here. All right. Give it up one more time for Jason Lindsay. What do we want . Oh, come on, now. What do we want . Gun laws. When do we want it . Now. What do we want . Goun laws. When do we want it . Now. What do we want . Gun laws. When do we want it . Now. All right. Everybody give a big round of applause for our next speaker, real quick. We have growth glenn coming up, a survivor of gun violence and big advocate for domestic ruth is amazing, by the way. Give her one more round of applause. I love this woman. Good morning. What do we want . Gun laws. When do we want them . Now. What do we want . Gun laws. When do we want them . Now. Amen. Thank you. My name is ruth glenn. President of the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. We have been fighting for survivors of Domestic Violence and here lately more so for survivors of Domestic Violence and gun violence. I am also a survivor of the deadly mix of gun violence and Domestic Violence. I was shot three times, left for dead, after many, many years of gun violence and harassment and fear. I did everything right, and i thought i was safe, but due to my partners access to weapons and guns, he did that harm to me. On behalf of the 1 million women alive today who have been shot or shot at, i ask you, all of us, to disarm Domestic Violence. The intimate partner homicide rate has increased if recent years driven by an increase in homicides committed by firearms and domestic abusers access to firearms. I am not only a survivor because i am alive after the shooting, i am a survivor because i endured years and years of threats and fear because the man who needed to control me used the firearm to intimidate me, including kidnapping me at gunpoint, holding me hostage for four hours. Knowing that a trigger pull could kill me within minutes, i lived in constant fears. On behalf of the 4. 5 million women alive today who have been directly threatened by an intimate partner with a gun, i ask you, i ask all of us, to disarm Domestic Violence. I am often asked regarding my own story and about victims in general, those that call us and say, what do i do . Im afraid. Wouldnt it have been better if you had your own firearm . The fear of using a weapon, in fact, which is reinforced by the abuser, of the gun being used on you, being turned on you, would have im sorry, would have had their own firearm, the fear of using the weapon and the fact, the abuser, of the gun being used on you or the very idea that you would have a gun in the home in which violence is being perpetrate d in my mind doesnt even make sense. Access means access to any gun. An abusers access to firearm increases the risk of intimate partner homicide fivefold. Regardless of who owns the gun. On behalf of those who are at risk, i ask you, all of us, to disarm Domestic Violence. I am not alone and i am lucky. Im here today to remind you of the women killed every month. On average, 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner per month. 52 women per month. When are we going to be mad about it . On behalf of those lost women, i ask you, all of us, all of you, disarm Domestic Violence. I ask you and i implore you to remember the impact of the intersection on Domestic Violence and children, our families, our communities, hospitals, workplaces and other institutions. Victims of Domestic Violence are often forgotten in these discussions and debates. Especially those who have lost their lives as a result. On behalf of those who no longer have a voice, cannot be here today because theyre dead, whose family and children are missing them, for those that have endured the threats of Domestic Violence with the presence of a gun, those who left even though they knew it could result in their death. Please disarm Domestic Violence. We do not want gun control. The mere word causes shivers. We want safety. Women and children are at risk. Entire communities are at risk. Check your histories of mass shooters. Gun laws save lives. Closing loopholes saves lives. Please remember those most, and disarm Domestic Violence. Thank you. Give it up one more time for ruth, everybody. Enough is enough fluff is enough enough is enough enough is enough all right. We know this battle is going to have to happen at the fasnation level and state level and local level every day. Raise your hand if youre organizing at the local level to End Gun Violence. Give yourself a round of applause. All right. Our next speaker is executive director of states united to prevent gun violence and also a survivor. Please give it up. Good morning. Good morning. And thank you for showing up on this rainy day. I know that some people came through the snow to be here. I became a gun violence survivor on another snowy and freezing, snowy day, in january of 1970. My stepfather shot me with a. 30 od 6 hunting rifle at our home in rural new hampshire. This time of gun is used to bring down big game. Bullet exploded into my back and exited my 13yearold body. It severed nerves close to my spine and caused damage to my kidney. Shrapnel still rises to the surface of my skin, pushing its way through muscle fiber. Access to a gun and Domestic Violence forever changed my life in the course of seconds. While the bullet is no longer in my flesh, the trauma will never leave. Survivors fight traumatic memories. We know there is no safe place in america. That is why thousands of survivors are standing up to the nra. We dont say this is enough. This is enough. Enough we we dont want any of you to carry the burden we do. We walk next to all of you. You have shown up to tell the court that we matter. You have shown up to show the court that the nra can no longer politicize and profit from our stories. For the past two years for the past two years, i have worked in vermont with a determined team of hunters, faith leaders, teachers, doctors, and farmers, with farmers all over the state. And we have stood up to the nra. Vermont passed an expanded background check bill which limited high capacity magazines. Banned bump stocks. To purchase to 21 and at the same time at the same time we passed an extreme Risk Protection order. We held our heads high as we watched a republican governor w sign them into law. [ cheering ] those laws are now at risk. Now i stand before you as the executive director of state united to prevent gun violence. We know that we accomplish muchy at the state level. We know it matters. Every state and local group work hard to pass good violence prevention policy the states have stood up and fought to hold back bad policy. Tire we show up and we stand up. We are doing this work every day even when we are bone tired. We know we cannot win this fight alone. We need each other. Rowd we are Better Together after we rise. [ cheering ] cheerer se age we need to rise up against the nra whose agenda has landed up here this morning. S the Supreme Court is jeopardizing our Public Health t and our Public Safety if they r choose to reinterpret the Second Amendment. No matter what Supreme Court s justices oray members of congre or the state house say, we will continue to fight against a crow horrific Public Health crisis called gun violence. [ cheering ] i am just one person, and i have to brave with my life to show you that we can be brave together. [ cheering ]with a we have to show up to be strong and we have to show up to be effective allies with all of our communities, rural and urban. Thank you. Thank you and onward. All right. Give it up for her one more time, yall [ cheering ] gun laws. Save lives gun laws save lives next we want you to give it up for m one of our great lawmakers and an advocate to End Gun Violence. Give it up for Anthony Brown ofd maryland. Thank you. How is everyonevovo very one doing today . Hout thank you for the organizer, tho advocates and each and every on. Of you in communities around america turning tragedy into triumph for more americans. Rned god bless each and thr every on you and thank you for being out here today. I have learned through my own experience that no family is immune from gun violence. No family is immune from the ws tragedy of the Domestic Violence. My y 40yearoldld cousin kathy ten years ago was killed at the hands of her estranged boyfriend and they in turn shot him. Igion, gun violence knows no boundaries regardless of race, religion and ethnicity and thats why we need gun laws to save lives save lives save lives lates take that bullhorn and here we go. Todays nras latest, forts to wipe out gun safety laws and the stakes couldnt be higher. Cons the nra wants the spoke to rule that every person has a constitutional right to carry a. Concealed firearm whether into a school, a Shopping Center or a Movie Theater and thats just a wrong. Nc inealed maryland, like many states, if you want to carry a concealed gun in public, you ccf have toul demonstrate that you m not a danger to yourself or others and successfully complete a Firearms Training course to show that you can correctly a handle that gun. The nra thinks that the right to bear arms shouldnt come with any responsibilities, but they are wrong and wrong indeed, but the nra doesnt want to stop there. It, wants the court to abolish even the most common sense, lifesaving, Public Safety protections such as stopping domestic abusers from possessint firearms, red flag laws that s. Have guns out of the hands that pose hazard to themselves and others, banning assault magazines ten years ago the Supreme Court reaffirmed that reasonable restrictions on gun possession are, in fact, constitutional, yet, since then we witnessed the tragedies at zd sandy hook, orlando, las vegas and park lanland and we realizet much more has to be done, but the nra is not, whic abandoning unrestricted view of this Second Amendment which is inconsistent with American History and jurisprudence out of touch with Public Safety and out of step with the American People. [ cheering ]] thats why the nra has tirelessly worked to stop any and every congressional action on gun safety for years including fixing or broken check system or keeping gun away from domestic users and stalkers. Policies supported by 90 of the American Public and now ht and now they want the court to e halt the hardfought process and the move that gun safety has made in dozens of state across the country in recent years. The American People are demanding action to address thea Public Health epidemic of gun violence and theyre demanding action now and theyre handed the nra defeat after defeat. Th the nra is on the ropes, and now it needs a Supreme Court to bais it out. I urge the justices to listen to the American People. Hes speaking god bless each and every one of you. [ cheering ] enough is enough enough is enough enough is enough right. Enough is enough enough is enough gun laws save lives gun laws meg save lives gun laws save lives i looks like weve got the the biggestst megaphone, doesnt it . Ill let javier use the mega fen. Lets give it up for javier lopez. Everybody, whats going on . Ot i bring you peace and blessings and greetings from the Red Hook Initiative in red hook Brooklyn Community capacity development. All three of those organization. I work for and i serve to End Gun Violence in urban communities. The Supreme Court does not need to hear or review the new york state rifle case. Many in the Legal Community have regarded this case as being mute. My state has ten the necessary steps to repeal the rule at the heart of the case. So its some bullshit right now that were even talking about it. Any hearing, interpretation and ruling on new york state rifle at this point will be political as [ expletive ]. As a representative for the africanamerican, and the lencew messengers, leaders and advocates who are working day i and night to eradicate gun violence, we cannot allow the nra to play politics without courts without loudly stating how my community will be negatively impacting whats going on right behind me. In africanamerican and latin x neighborhoods that we serve st young people of color and the impact of gun violence most acutely. So put it in perspective. The firearm related rate the amongst africanamerican male youths between the agency of 10 and 25 years old is nearly 20 ag times higher than . The rate of white young males. Now sit on that. You see this man talking . He dont know know nothing aboul ourking. Communities. He dont know a god damn thing that happens around our communities. Hes out here talking. Sis whats he saying . Hes not saying a god damn thi thing. Called violence a Public Health crisis which is ah accurate description of the epidemic, but perhaps a lesson no Public Health outcome as a result of the gun violence and o then, significance is the following risk factors that include asthma, hypertension, cancer, a cancer and stroke. Famil violence breaks out, nobody is talking about the outcomes and the hospitals are filled with families that are impacted severely behavior healthh and physical health. The trauma is severe. E. To the nra continues to promote weak gun laws which allow guns e and illegal guns to proliferate in my neighborhoods and the communities that i serve leading to more and more shootings, peoe perpetuate at traumas that have impacted generations. Ng a we havebout generations of peop living in Public Housing that r have been impacted by gun violence and aint nobody talking aboutut them. Theyre not even here who is here . Im here as one representative, and rarly set in the gun violence debate and the gun ce safety debate is the fact that over these gun laws allow for the toe dominant response to gun violence in our communities to be overaggressive policing, to be prosecution and to be sentencing to growing out the Prison Industrial Complex whichy too often result in the hearts of these neighborhoods already plagued by gun violence. Whenou they manipulate the gun safety laws the police come in r our communities and barbosh our heads in. Aints nobody talking about that. The nra has done enough to harm our neighborhoods. I urge the Supreme Court to tur their attention to other pressing issues such as the continued segregation of public school, the expanded Police Surveillance in black and browno neighborhoods and Healthcare Access and much more. The nra has done enough harm to our neighborhoods and finally allow me to give my condolences to the family of clarence venable. He was a man that was shot to death as he left the alliance for concerned men, a not for profit group that helps prevent gun violence and he is one of the nations unknown heroes who] deserves to be recognized in the community that is predominantly africanamerican and latin x life. Thank you very much. Give it up one more time for javier. License all right. If you have a Toyota Corolla with license plate [ no audio ] 3af627, if the Bumper Sticker says i love parks, you might get towed. Eeping] 3af6027. Go ahead and move that thing. Do you see a little rain . I dont see no rain. Enoug i dont want care if it storms well be out here one week so i have to send these guys into the rain, enough is enough enough is enough enough is enough enough is enough up. Right. Next, well have Elijah Nichols come up and a senior fellow in e the courage i fellow program an as soon as it is actor in george mason university. Give it up for e lidgea, everybody [ cheering ] 627,200, those were the is numbers of individuals shot in 2006. 30,896. That is the number ofout of individuals that died due to gun violence in 2006. Out of the many bodies, many names and many stories of the year, i only know one. I only know the story of the one that was a father with two Young Children and a husband to a loving wife and the one that was an uncle, my uncle, frank simpson. You see, i remember my mom getting a call, her hands e loca shaking and her picking up thel remote to turn on the tv. Ng up as the screen turned on and my mother turned to the local newse channel i rememberne our familyi photo flashing up on to the screen. The black turtlenecks that f a everyoneco wore, similar to the one i am wearing today has muniy become a communal sense of at mourning. At 5 years oldhave had my famil became a part of a community. A community of families that have had someone that they love killed by a gun. Let me make this clear. Frank simpson as well as the w thousandfi that have been kille before and sadly, after him are the reason that i fight, and i hope you will fight for them, too. [ cheering ]at beiday in f i can tell you that being y a here today in front of the Supreme Court, you are fightingw for frank. You are fighting for him and thn many like him by speaking truth to power against the nra and cronies. Inside those marble walls, what the supposed gun rights ge organization isnda pushing for nothing more than a political yo game with their lives. E to be it is an agenda of a murder. Theres absolutely no reason for this case to be at the Supreme Court today. I just need that to be known. Let me say that again. Theres absolutely no theres no reason for this case to be at the Supreme Courti today. I just need that to be known. N. The regulation that is being mp. Discussed inside the court today, and what the organization insidee there is putting politics and the profits of gun manufacturers over our lives. For frank, i say not today. The nra will not win today k because we will not stop fighting. We will not have prevention can ats and we will take back the federal legislators and we will make sure that those we vote in put judges on the bench are for the people andnd not for the profits of the few. P we will win this for frank, for you and for the safety of future generations and my name is elija nichols and im proudly of jah, muskegon michigan. Now lets win this thing [ cheers and applause ] all right. Give it up for e, i liej a everybody [ cheers and applause ] all right, really quick. I know a lott by gun of vio us someone or know someone who has been impacted by gun violence just as elijah spoke of frank. I want you to think about that name and on the count of three i want you to yell that name as loud as you can to bring them into this space. E one, two, three. 3 one more time. E bring one, two, three next thank you guys. All right. Before we bring out the next speaker. All my papers are a mess. S. I need to getet paid for this. All right. Before we bring out the next speaker i want to make sure youre all still awake. So, enough enough enough gi ven all right. Our next speaker is ian, are yo, here . Be really loud for ian, everybody [ cheering ] i good morning, everybody. Er f my nameor is Ian Palmquist and y were the National Partner to statewide organizations who are winning equality for lesbian, gay, transgender and year people in the communities we call home and we are proud today to stand with every action and all of the organizations here today to call on the Supreme Court to reject the nras attempt to deprive us of the right to enact measures to protect ourselveses from guni violence. Thee lgbtq communities knows gun we violence too well. We know gun violence and the massacre at pulse in orlando w where 49 lives were lost, bringing violence and death to a place where people went to feel safe. Lence we know gun violence and the epidemic of murders of trans weo women of color. We know gun violence in the inh rising number of hate crimes against lgbtq people and we know gun violence of the loss of folks in our community to suicide at rates far beyond the national averagee and we know gn violence in our schools where sexual and gender minority mmunt students are more likely to be threatened with a firearm and we know we need sensible regulations to protect our the communities of gun violence. Today, we need the Supreme Court to stand up to the nra. The nra wants to use this challenge to roll back hundredse of safety laws across the country and even measures that are overwhen willmingly supported for the American People. For the not Lgbtq Community, fol our communities, the justices must not endanger Public Safety. They must not adopt a radical e new interpretation of the secona amendment. It is wrong and the spacinconsi with thefe constitution and it dangerous and it would mean more guns in the public spaces and the spaces we all deserve to feel safe. Thank you so much. [ cheering ] gun laws save lives gun laws save lives gun laws save lives n up i want to bring up randy winehart and the Teachers Federation so its very sad when the nra who has pushed this case today needs to have someone with a megaphone wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, in this community. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Very there is very it is very sad that someone that the nra needso to actually try and disrupt thia community of people who love other people. [ cheering ] they have they have a right to speak just like we no, no, dont worry about it. Remember, im a school teacher. R im used to disruptive childrenn they have at right to speak, b so do we, and at a moment of time like this, when you have and i have seen my local is the local in newtown. My local is the local in parkland. Weve had speakers here before who have talked about their families being killed by gun violence. We have a law in new york that w has been there and as a result there has beenn no gunth violen in schools in new york and the nra wants to get rid of that law this is a moment this is again, im used to disruptive t students. This is a moment where we as a Community Come together to say its time to act. When a nation loses more students to gun violence in a year, the Service Members in combat its time to act when y s when young people you notice that he needs to disrupt thesese facts. When young people say their e greatest fear is gun violence, is it time to act . When students and teachers across the country speak about School Shootings in terms of when, not if, is it time to act . Yes when our children are demanding action, is it time to act . Yes well, you, my friends. You are acting by sitting here and by standing here in the rain. You are acting. You are being out here making sure that the Supreme Court that others actual lie understand that we need sensible gun we violence laws like the law in new york city and new york state. We need to act across the country. You read te act . Are you read toy act in the november elections and are you ready to stand here to be heard . Thanke you. Wan all right, everybody, give it up for brand i pon more time. Who who do we want snem. Gun laws when do we want them now . I can hear you all of the wam in the back. R nice job. To hear from the former air force pilot in minnesota and co owner of the gun safety. Please give it up, everybody [ cheering ] [cheering] you. Ank good morning, my fellow citizens and supporters of democracy. You as a survivor of gun violence, a gun good morning, my fellow citizens and supporters of democracy. I stand before you as a survivor of gun violence. A gun owner and a veteran of our armed forces. I know too well the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence when in 1986 my sister dianne was murdered as she exited her car to enter a church. 100 people a day die at the hand of a gun in this country. 100 people a day with hundreds more injured. Those 100 a day equal just about four sandy hooks every single day in this country, and when my sister was murdered that was our familys personal sandy hook. As a gun owner, i emphatically can proclaim that the nra does not speak for me nor represent my views. [ cheering ] in fact, the nra no longer represents the majority of our citizens who have come together to call for common sense gun legislation. The gun manufacturing lobby is now trying to convince the Supreme Court to prop up their losing agenda. The court the court should say no to the gun lobby and interpret the Second Amendment as the Founding Fathers intended. A wellregulated militia does not mean an unregulated populist wreaking havoc upon our peace and tranquility. It is time for the nra and the court to listen to antonin scalia, just as Justice Scalia said these rights and the Second Amendment do not come without regulation. Our government is obligated pert constitution to ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. This can only happen by protecting our gun laws so that we can all feel safe in our schools, churches, night clushgs shopping malls, parks and so forth. As an air force officer i took an oath to defend the constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The nra used to be a gun safety and sportsman organization. It is now a lobbying arm for the gun manufacturing industry, and it works counter to every single one of the founding principles i quoted. I, for one, am weary of our childrens lives being the cost we pay for the Second Amendment. I call upon the Supreme Court to not give in to the agenda, but instead to reign in its influence and return this country on the path to peace, tranquility and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] give it up one more time for bob, everybody. All right. Next coming to the stage we have russell, a junior attending Stone Ridge School at sacred heart in bethesda, the same private school where Supreme Court justices send their children. She has led activism in her school and organized walkouts and sharing her story for march for our lives. Please give it up for her one more time. One more time [ cheering ] sorry. Im a bit short. Hi, everyone. Im lourdes and im one of the nine student voices in the amicus brief to the justice of the Supreme Court. [ cheers and applause ] i have not had the same experience as some other people. I have never been directly affected by gun violence, but i speak for everyone my age and younger whose innocence has been forever stained by this growing epidemic, by the increase in active shooter drills and the necessity of various ssca plans and the con conversations of death we have to have with small children. Were the first generation to be affected by the mass shooting generation. Im a junior at stoner school of the sacred heart, and a place like many other elite private schools, we students used to think we were untouchable. We used to think that by some privilege our tuition and uniforms protected us from the atrocities happening in this country. I can remember moments where i didnt let my anxiety take over because i thought being a suburban, private schoolattending girl would protect me. But thats not the case anymore. For a long time i thought i could focus on my love for language learning and math instead of being shot at school. Through the failures of politicians, my classmates and i have been shaken out of that luxury. I watched as children in sandy hook and parkland were led out of their schools with their hands above their heads and their friends dead behind them and just last year when there was an active shooter threat next to my school i realized no privilege i had could save me. I texted my parents updates that day assuring them that i wouldnt be shot because my School Administrators told me i would be fine. We went into lockdown and i sat in my World History class doing whatever i could to distract myself from the prospect of dying where i sat. Although it was eventually declared a false alarm, and there never was an active shooter next door, a sat in the amicus brief that the question of feeling safe at school was complex, but after further reflection i realized that thats not true. I dont feel safe anywhere. I never went through the real thing and i dont feel safe at all. And i thought to myself if i feel this way, and i go to an elite Independent School that some of these justices send their students to, how do people that dont have my privilege, how are they supposed to feel in their communities when theyre threatened . [ cheering ] that question made me want to face the hypocrisy of the people in power in this country, to challenge our existing laws through our democracy. The people in power can say that were the future, but we cant fe be the future if were shot dead in school. The people in power can say they understand our experiences, but they go places with heavy security details and send their kids to the safest, most elite schools that money can buy. That hypocrisy is why i became involved in this work. I channel my anger and sadness about the hypocrisy. I help organize town halls and organize the walkouts and that has not been simple, but as much as my school has pushed back against us and as much as politicians have pushed back against us and as much as unlektsed officials have pushed back against us, our movement has not given up. [ cheering ] but today, the Supreme Court is hearing a case that can invalidate all of that work. The Supreme Court justices could deprive us of the chance to end our fear through the democratic process. Thoughts and prayers cant fix this. Right . They cant fix it. The government needs to let us, people like you and me have the chance to fix this through real laws and legislation and policy. Nowhere is safe regardless of the precautions we take or the privileges we have. The decision of this case paves the way for how our government will grapple with gun control and legislation for the decades to come, and in case you didnt know know. Its not the video games. Its not the lack of preparation and its not your zip code. Its the guns and we deserve to say how theyre regulated. The Supreme Court cant take that away from us. Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] great job all right. Next to the stage, before we do that, though. Lets hear it for our haters one time. Enough. Is enough thats awesome. Thank you guys, well hear from marco vargas, the First Generation College student and we know its important that our kids are safe at school and at home and thats why he started students demand action at his school andy a demand action in his home of South Central los angeles. So please give it up for marco. Thank you. Thank you. My name is marco vargas and im a firstgeneration College Student attending dartmouth college, and im a student with citizens in mind action. My friends and i have immersed ourselves in the fight against gun violence and it disproportionately impacts communities of color. When i was five years old, gun violence devastated my family. I witnessed my father striking my mother screaming and getting drunk. Teachers would ask me why i didnt complete my homework and i would silently respond because i didnt have time. I should have explained how no one in my house spoke english and how my mom was figuring out a way to escape the bruises, the nose bleeds and black eyes that inflicted her body every time my father parked his white pickup truck and closed the door behind him. For years, my mother was forced to clean, cook and grocery shop because my father was affiliated. He walked up and down our street concealing a pistol he purchased on the black market because with ten bullets in the chamber he was always in control. A gun is what my father used to silence my entire family for years. He never fired a bullet at us, but the psychological scars that pierced my family still hurt. They hurt when my friends ask me about my father. They hurt when i hear similar stories from friends in South Central, and they hurt when i turn on the news and see guns senselessly being used to inflict pain and suffering that i know from experience will not go away any time soon. Its been 15 years since police took my fathers gun away. I fight against gun violence because stories like mine are too common. I fear that gun violence in the United States has become normalized. Today is a reminder of why we must tell our stories. Today in this build, the nra is pushing for an extreme interpretation of the Second Amendment and we are here because we know whats at stake. Every day, communities across the nation, black and brown students hear gunshots at night. I was raised listening to sirens at night, helicopters circling the block. White lights beaming down and dogs barking uncontrollably. This does not have to be the reality of future generations. When i look at all of us gathered here today i am reminded how many of us agree. I am reminded how many of us have been affected by gun violence and i am reminded how hard well continue to fight to make our country safer. Thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] give it up for marco, everybody please welcome robin thomas to the stage, everybody. Big round of applause thank you so much for being here today on this cold, december morning. Throughout history, change has been made by the people who showed up and spoke out. Your presence here today serves as a reminder to this court and to our elected officials that the many, Many Americans demanding an end to gun violence arent going anywhere. Were here today because we we are here today because we are angry. Were angry because there are 100 americans a day who die from gun violence. A hundred yesterday and a hundred tomorrow and we are sick and tired of it. [ cheering ] were here today because survivor, many of you in this crowd, survivors like Gabby Gifford whose life is a model of Public Service and courage and who will fight with us with the unimaginable heart owe break but of the gun vile neps america. We are here today because we want to not waste our time. A case brought by gun lobby plaintiffs orchestrated to advance the interests of people who make guns and buy guns and who care more about guns, more than they have their children. Right not to get shot. The rid to live a life free from gun violence is far more important than the narrow lieu that we hear before this court today, but no matter what this court decides, no matter how this turns out, we are not going anywhere. Our focus as a country needs on what will make our children, our families and our communities safer. That is what we are fighting for and that is what were going to keep fighting for, not for an industry that makes profits selling more guns. The Giffords Law Center and Gabby Giffords have been at the forefront of this fight for a long time and were not backing down. When i look out at this crowd today in this rainy, cold morning, i know that we are stronger than weve ever been. We are winning and making progress and thats going to continue. Thank you for being here and dont give up give it up for robin, yall [ cheering ] i realize we havent all met each other. So fsh put your hands in the air, shake your hands and weve all shook hands. You know everybody in the room. Thank you so much. Well take a quick, musical intermission and well get back to the program so give it up for our band, everyone and while theyre setting up. What do we want . Gun laws when do we want it . Now. What do we want . Gun laws when do we want it . Now all right, guys, give them a round of applause one more time. She told me keep going. Enough is enough enough is enough enough is enough well play a game real quick. If youre on the left side i want you to say end. If youre in the middle say gun. And when you are on the right, say violence. End. Gun. Violence [ crowd chanting End Gun Violence ] that was beautiful, yall give yourself a round of applause. All right. Give it up for the band. Were not safe anymore theyre walking their guns through the door sfo no, we are not safe anymore, when theyre cutting down the faithful and their houses of prayer mother emanuel in charleston, a sikh temple in oak creek how much blood needs to be spilled oh spare me your thoughts and prayers speech were not safe anymore theyre gunning us down in our gosh Grocery Stores no, were not safe anywhere when theyre murdering our babies in their classroom chairs too many schools to rattle off, too many names to memorize how much blood has to be spilled spare me, dont politicize were not safe anymore when neighbors are shooting neighbors for knocking on their door were not safe anywhere when too many lose their lives to stray bullets in the air how many stories do you need how many records should we break how much blood needs to be spilled oh, spare me your Mental Health debate i dont want a good guy with a gun sfoet i dont need a gun if all the good guys had bats were not safe anymore theyre walking their guns through the god doors chrkris matthews. [ cheering ] enough, enough is enough, enough is enough enough [ crowd chanting enough is enough ] i am brenda moss, i am a survivor and first and foremost i am the mother of sean moss. I am sean moss mother. On august 26, 2014, my total thinking changed. Why . Because someone decided to take my sons life. Without permission. 17 times he shot my son seans son turns 17 this year, and i can imagine at least one of those 17 thoughts was why did he take my father . Where will i find another hero . How can i go on without him . But he will go on because i am the voice of sean moss, and i will fight until i win [ cheering ] what i need you to nra, to understand is this i dont want your rights, i dont want your guns, i dont even want you around. I want for you to be responsible for the choice that you have made and if youre not responsible, you will understand that there are consequences for your actions. [ cheering ] were here on this cold morning because we believe in what were doing, because we dont want another family to go through what i went through. Where i live in lynchburg, virginia, we started a chapter and just in chase you didnt know, we stripped some seats. [ cheering ] after legislation we made phone calls and we showed up just like well keep on showing up y will not be silenced because you think we should be, but because we dont want another family going through what many families have gone through. And why this morning in that building is the nra trying to talk us back, but im here to say were going forward. Were not going backward because we are going to fight until we win were going to fight until we win come on lets fight at this time, it is my honor to introduce, senator chris murphy from connecticut. [ cheering ] that is a hard act to follow. Hey, this is this is what a movement looks like, right . [ cheering ] now i am not dressed for the rain, but i am dressed for a movement, right . And listen, what i know is that they are going to increasingly be here because they cant beat us out there. [ cheering ] theyre going to get the courts to protect them because the voters wont protect them any longer. Because we, for the first time in a long time, we, the antigun Violence Movement is finally stronger than the gun lobby is. [ cheering ] thats why were flipping seats all over the country. Right . Thats why we have these guys running for the hills and retiring in drefs and we arent going to stop because heres what i know. I know as a student of history that the great social change movements are not the ones that gave up when they hit an obstacle, right . Theyre not the ones that went home when they hit a bump in the road. The great social change movements and the ones that you read about in the history books, those are the ones that you knew that the status quo would eventually fall and stop at nothing until they saved lives and changed history. Thats what great social changes are about and thats what we are. And so this radical agenda to try to take away our ability to protect our kids and i dropped off my kids this morning at public Elementary Schools that do active shooter drills and they want to take our right away to make change to pass laws that actually mack o actually make our streets safer, to prevent the episodic gun violence that plagues cities. They want to take our right away and were not going to let them do that. So i am dressed today to fight on the inside of these buildings because i know that you guys are dressed and ready to fight on the outside of these buildings, and so it just warms my heart to see big crowd after big crowd, to see rally after rally, to see headquarters after head are the k headquarters because the stronger you are outside the stronger you make us inside. Thank you, everybody. [ cheering ] every army needs a general, and in the red shirt, we have the best general we can have. I introduce to you now Shannon Watts [ cheering ] im short hello, everyone [ cheering ] i am here today because i am angry. Across the country our volunteers have stood shoulder to shoulder with all of you here today, and we have passed more than 300 gun safety laws in just three years. We have made progress because americans demand it and we are fed up with the gun lobby writing our nations gun laws. We are fed up with children hiding under desks while lawmakers hide behind the gun lobby. We are fed up with lax gun laws that make our neighborhoods, homes and communities less safe. We have fought back again and again, and we have won. The nra. And are we going to let them get away with that . Hell no hell no the nra is coming to the courts because they know theyre losing in state houses and in boardrooms and in the house of representatives and in the court of public opinion. They are rapt by political and financial scandals. They are being exposed for what theyve always been, a front for gun lobbyists at the expense of american lives. The only place the nra has left to fight is in the Supreme Court and they wont win there either. The nra is scared. We are 6 million strong and the writing is on the wall. The nras weaker than they have ever been and we are stronger than we have ever been [ cheering ] and you want to know why . Because we have shown lawmakers that when they do the right thing we will have their backs. When they do the wrong things, we will have their jobs. [ cheering ] the bottom line is this. The Supreme Court should not allow the nra to take a case that is moot and use it to further its deadly agenda. Good gun laws save lives. So today well be loud enough that the justices inside know that were watching everything they do. Too many families live in fear of gun violence and we do not have to live like this and our children sure as hell do not die like this. We are proving every day that winning is possible. We outspent the nra in the 2018 midterm elections and we beat them in virginia, in both general assembly. [ cheering ] we beat the nra in their own backyard. We show every day that winning is possible and together were going to keep winning in the court, too. Thank you. [ cheering ] zion kelly is 14 years old and lived in washington, d. C. , since losing his brother in 2018 zion has turned to acts vichivi sharing his story in march for our lives and in a brief for this case, shining a light on the crisis of everyday gun violence through advocacy and outreach. I introduce to you, zion kelly. [ cheers and applause ]. Greetings, i am zion kelly, a na native washingtonan and from florida university. Today will go down in history because the Supreme Court decided to hear our voices and hear our pain. And today theyll decide whether they want to hear our voices or to put more lives at risk. For far too long the topic of gun safety has been swept under the rug and for far too long, gun violence has plagued our communities, our schools, our churches and neighborhood stores. But finally, we as a country are coming together to address it. All across america, we are coming together to demand common sense gunning wells and to elect officials who save our lives, but with this case the Supreme Court can singlehandedly rip that away from us. Human lives are at stake with this case. Gun violence is very prevalent in our society and it impacts more people than we can possibly imagine. Last year alone 36,383 americans were killed last year with guns. People who do not deserve to lose their lives and people who do not deserve to be shot, but we have to look deeper than numbers. We have to look deeper at statistics and these are real people with real lives, people whose family members are grieving every day and i personally know the impact of losing your loved one. Gun violence has impacted my family for generations. It seemed like its a neverending cycle. My grandfather lost his son to gun violence. My dad lost one of his brothers to gun violence in washington, d. C. , in the 2017 i lost my twin brother to a bullet, and this is why this is so personal to me because my family has been grieving for decades. And the grieving process is something that many people cannot understand unless they actually go through it. Theres a lot of trauma that comes from it. For a long time i felt uncomfortable leaving my house. It was hard for my family to adjust to our new life, and i did not go to school for weeks and i did not want to leave my house because the process was too hard, but my twin brother zair was only 16 when he was shot coming from a college prepare atory College Bound and only steps from my house. Zair was an active community member. He spoke out about issues that impacted youth across the city. He had the whole world ahead of him and he was an exceptional student and person. I had to find ways to cope and adjust and speaking out for my community is one way for me to keep my brothers legacy alive and it is a way for me to be a positive role model for my peers and siblings. Zair had the right not to be shot. My grandfathers son had the right not to be shot and my fathers brother had the right not to be shot. We must End Gun Violence for future generations. It is time that we make a change. It is time that we gave our communities hope and this is why we have to continue to fight, fight for the people who cannot be here. We have to fight for the community thats been marginalized for years and for the students who have an everyday fear who do not know if theyll make it home. If the Supreme Court cares about my life and your lives and the rights of everyone in this country they must hear our voices. Again, i am zion kelly. Thank you. [ cheering ] all lives matter. All lives matter. B wn, president of brady. [applause] thank you so much, brenda. And thank you, zion, for your words. I am so very sorry for your loss. We lose almost 40,000 americans a year to gun violence. Make no mistake, this is a uniquely american problem and we are going to fix it [applause] i am chris brown and i am very proud to serve as the president of brady. Founded by jim brady. Jim and sarah brady. Jim brady served as president Ronald Reagans press secretary. He was carrying out his job in front of the hilton when he was shot. Like so Many Americans devastated by gun violence, he decided to move forward and enact the brady law. That law has now stopped the sale of more than 3. 5 million guns to individuals who never should have them. Brady, we work here in d. C. With congress and across the courts and in communities to ensure that nobody has to suffer the kind of violence that far too Many Americans are suffering today. As you heard today, this case n nra fueled threat to all the progress we have made. Lets be clear. This is a lawsuit designed to force a reinterpretation of the Second Amendment. To reverse longstanding comments on gun lost. We cannot let that happen. We know every amendment in the bill of rights has certain limitations on it. The freedom of speech, the First Amendment, what cant you do . You cannot yell fire in a crowded theater. The Second Amendment is no different. When the Second Amendment was adopted, many states ruled that even required the role of how guns were stored in peoples homes. The Second Amendment did not change that. That is exactly the laws that we were have been able to enact a love the states across this country. Extreme risk laws adopted in 17 states and the District Of Columbia. You should give yourselves a hand because you all have made that happen. I had a lot more to say here and i think i just want to conclude with the following. We are a movement and we are not going to stop. Knowe all here because we that one thing that is very simple. Gun laws save lives. We are all here because we demand gun laws that save lives. And we wont quit. We wont quit. America wont quit. Veterans wont quit. Our moms wont quit. [applause] our parents, our grandparents will not quit. Legislat sense ors we elected, they wont quit. Country, thiss great country, we wont quit because none of you will quit. So, lets say it together. Gun laws. Save lives . Gun laws. Save lives thank you all for being in this fight for us. [applause] enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough. S enough is enough. At this time, it is my great honor to introduce connolley. Tive thank you. My fellow americans. We have a right to protect ourselves and our communities. And, the Supreme Court needs to hear from us. Virginia. T northern when we have the Virginia Tech tragedy, somebody tragedies ago, at that time, that was the worst gun massacre in American History. I was chairman of Fairfax County and we buried six young people that we can my county, including the shooter. We thought that was the worst tragedy that was ever going to fall on us. Sadly, so many names we can barely remember them since. Newtown, parkland. Massacreddren being in schools. You see how some people are afraid of our message. [cheering] but there is good news. We had elections in virginia last month. With new majorities, were going to pass gun control in the commonwealth of virginia where going to protect our communities. We are going to say no to the nra. Now, i dont know about you. After tragedies like newtown, nras answer was lets arm teachers. All i can think of was my algebra teacher. I can never give him a gun. Teaching children. They are not in the profession of Law Enforcement. Unbelievable streak of medicine coming out of the nra. By the way, im the nra congressman. Theyre headquartered in my district and they give me an f every year. [cheering[ ] i can tell you that is the proudest f i have ever earned. Ive come up with three simple things for fellow americans to think about. A, b, c. A ban on assault weapons. To protects an ar15 her home. They only exist for one reason to kill people. We van weapons we must ban assault weapons. Universal background checks, b. Americansngly, favorite. The nra used to. Nobody should be able to purchase a weapon without a background check. We could have prevented a lot of tragedies. Finally, close the gun show loophole. [cheering] in my state of virginia, you can go to a gun show and buy anything you want without any id. And that is why we are the number one state on the east coast in terms of gun trafficking. We have to close the gun show loophole. Lets say it together. A, b, c. That is a good start. I promise you, when i ran for office, i looked in the mirror and i said there have to be some things that are worth losing your office for. And that was a while ago when gun control was not so popular. But i made it one of my chief pledges, that i would always support gun control. To sit protect our communities. And now we have numbers, we have the moms who demand action. [cheering] we have the brady group. [cheering] we have every town. We are changing this debate. [cheering] virginia has shown you, virginia has shown you it is a winning debate. [ cheering] none of us are going to none of us are going to rest, until we keep our communities safe and we have reasonable gun control and the United States of america. It is a rainy day but we thank you for coming out and this will continue until will prevail and our children once again live in a safe country. Thank you so much for being here today . Keep up the fight. Oftentimes when youre in a crowd, you hear a lot of unnecessary noise. But that only means that the true noise is worth listening to. When you talk about us being paid, i would never want to be paid for my son getting shot. That is not why i am here. Just in case you didnt know, the first word in moms demand action is volunteer. Just in case you did not know, just in case you didnt know, every time i speak i speak for all people and not just sean, because here we are speaking up because it could happen to you. You dont have nothing to say but once it happens to you, understand this i will still be here speaking for you. cheering at this time, we will have our musical tribute. This one is yours. I just mean the stand. There you go, thanks. My name is Chris Matthews and this is called signs of the times. cheering enough is enough . I enough is enough enough is enough i hope you will sing this with us again. Thank you. This starts with one person standing on at water coolly talking about black lives matter and how trans lives matter and all lives matter. Talk about how students lives matter, students lives matter thats why were fighting sir. He told a person who looks like you, itll someone who looks like you and looks like you do that this is what i believe and you know that person does when they go to church on sunday . They go to church on sunday and they tell becky in the church next to her and they tell becky that this is what i believe because becky noodle word to say. Becky nunes the words to say and thats why we fight. I want you to sing this with me, i want you to sing these lyrics with me ready it was like this. Stand up wont you stand up, wont you stand up wont you stand go. Standup bone chew standup bone to, keep going. To the end of the hurt, to the last one we learn and i am through the noise and i will stand my ground until i see the end. But you will to and said lets be louder than them d. C. Stand up wont you, stand up for you, stand up when you, stand up when you. Paul stand up until the lesson is learned and i will wrecked my voice ill be heard through the noise and i will stand my ground until the end and you will too if you will understand when you stand up loan you, stand up when you stand up when you. cheering keep fighting the good fight. [indiscernible] [chanting] enough is enough and offices it off enough is enough . Enough is enough enough is enough isnt it a beautiful morning for talking gun laws. cheering i am so happy to be here with all of you warriors this morning. Thank you for everything that you do to make all of our could be the safer by name is chelsea parsons, irony Gun Violence Program in the center for american progress. When i was in law school, i read hundreds of pieces that came out of this building and we had the most fascinating academic debates about legal doctrine and starting in a year or so law students are to start reading the opinion that comes out of this case. They are going to have fascinating academic debates about rudeness. But what we know is that so much more is at stake in this case than what those law students are going to debate. This case is about our ability to elect legislators who will enact laws that will save lives. Matt this case is about our ability to send our children to school, to the park, to the store or anywhere else they well want to go. Without being afraid that they will double. This case is about us finally taking steps to end this horrific american experiment of weak gun laws and prolific gun ownership because you know what, it is not working. Thank you for being here today to make sure that those lying justices and those people here and the media and everyone who is watching understands what is at stake and that we are not going anywhere. cheering id like to introduce our next speaker who is trump the National Center for Transgender Equality Rodrigo Layton in. Thank you. Hello everybody my name is Rodrigo Layton an item with the National Center for trans gender equality. You may be wondering why transgender people care about the Supreme Court case today frank you because of a. Shanty carmen and gun violence is an epidemic which is killing our community and so far this year at least 22 transgender women have been murdered and are mostly black transgender women. That is a murder every 16 days and every 16 days another person is gunned down and a whole communities shakes and fear wondering who is next to go. The talks a combination of transphobia and outdated gun laws make it all too easy for someone with hatred in their heart to take our lives away. Here are three of the blacks transgender women killed, a shanty carmen shot very close to hear informant heights on march 30th. She was found dead of gunshot wounds around 6 30 in the morning after having a night out with friends. She recently but named employee of the month at the dunkindonuts in alexandria where she worked. Her fiancee Philip Williams told the press he couldnt imagine why somebody would want to hurt her. She was 27 years old. Malaysia booker who was shot to death in dallas texas and at already survived an earlier attack. A month earlier, she was brutally beaten in an apartment complex in a parking lot and briefly spoke out knowing that most transgender victims dont survive to advocate for themselves in their community. A month later, Police Responded to reports of gunshots when they arrived on the scene, they found Muhlaysia Booker face down of gunshot wounds and she was 23 years old. Lastly, key he fan troy shot to death in Miami Florida for when a young man proposition tour for sex and refused. He chased her down and firing shots at her in her friends and was taken to a local hospital where she died and leaving her family to mourn. She was 21 years old. Without basics on gun safety protections, they will say vulnerable are risk of death just for being or authentic selves. Those who dont think we matter are emboldened to attack us and are given the means to take away our lives in just one shot and this must end and it is time for common sense gun laws measures so that we can protect our own lives and thank you for taking action and together we will protect each other and in this. Thank you. Our next speaker is a survivor of one of the first School Shootings or many of us said never again. Please welcome sally gary again and a survivor of the columbine shooting. Good morning. Im sally gary again and i live in virginia and ill and between colorado new york city and ever since the theater as given me an escape and i will needed outlet in a place to tell really incredible stories. One story that i never hid from but i did talk about was set on april 20th 1999 i was a student at columbine high school. Like most of events that changed her life, my day began in the most unremarkable way. I was in my choir class as we were about to open up our music, we heard a loud bang and pandemonium broke as to heavily armed students came into our school, shooting anyone in their path. Iran and managed to make it through the auditorium as the sound of ricocheting bullets reach my ears from the lower common area of the school. As i reached the front door to the school, glass shattered and rained down in front of me. I quickly hid behind the teacher who wave mead towards another route to safety. While the story is heartbreaking, sadly, it is not unique. A ripple of pain, trauma and survivors guilt occurs following every instance of gun violence. After each new tragedy, i have to admit, i was left feeling hopeless. What did i have to add to the conversation . What could i do to help . I found my voice in this movement after the parkland shooting that felt eerily similar to my own story. I joined moms demand action in every town Network Community and i learned that every day in this country, peoples lives are being shattered by gun violence. But on this cold and rainy morning, i look around and see so many of you and here so many voices committed to making our country safer. All of you give me hope for the safety of my young daughter and son as they grow up, go to school live their lives. E it is because of all of us and the decades of advocacy that has come before us that our country will be safer. When columbine happened, we were told by the adult study would never happen again. Well, we were failed. Today, i am here before the Supreme Court of the United States to make sure we dont fail our children. By giving up the gates of a nation that was simply fed up. Im just fed up. Its been 20 years that my community has had an issue and i am grateful for all of you for being here to honor through action. Action that says that we will not let our voices and the memories of our loved ones be cast aside. cheering we will never lose sight of those we lost. So our vision is clear as to what we must continue to go. Thank you. cheering our next speaker is from the National Council of jewish women, jody robyn. Thank you, thank you everyone. So, wonderful to look out and see you on this beautiful morning at the Supreme Court and im jody and im the officer for the National Council of jewish women and im here on behalf of our 90,000 advocates and supporters across the country who work every day, every week, every month, every year here in and year out to keep their communities safe from senseless gun violence. We do this guided by the jewish of value and we believe in respect and dignity for all human beings. Throughout our history we have done just that. We worked with all of you out here on issues in california, in Washington State and in new jersey passing those packages of incredible gun safety laws over the past three years and so much more. In the wake of federal inaction, we know that states are leading the way to save lives. Why . Because there is overwhelming public support for gun safety laws, . Right exactly in 2018 alone, 67 new gun safety laws were enacted across the country in 26 states in the District Of Columbia right here. We know that they work. Study shows that legal restrictions about ownership and purchasing guns tends to be followed by a drop in gun violence. Yet, the nra wants the court today to challenge these state laws to roll back hundreds of gun safety laws across the country. Let me be clear, every gun safety law is at risk. News flash, america has a gun violence problem, right . Our Movie Theaters, are places of worship, our homes, our streets, are schools, festivals, concerts are not safe the public support is doing something. About it and we made progress at the ballot box, state legislatures and around the country which the majority of these cases are having lifesaving measures that are consistent with the constitution with Supreme Court president and in the majority of cases we know that these courts of appeal of the Constitutional Rights that we hold including the right to live free from gun violence and cords matter. Now the nra wants the Supreme Court to roll back all of that progress. You know what i say . I say gun laws and save lives. Say it with me. Gun laws to save lives. One more time. Gun laws save lives. The nra extreme approach threatens our Constitutional Rights and our Public Safety and our lives. The Supreme Court must reject this attempt to roll back gun safety laws, thank you. cheering all right our next speaker is our friend of the movement, our friend thats been working on this issue for decades is, that nice . laughs josh horowitz. Hello my name is josh horowitz, im with the Coalition Top gun violence and we believe gun buyers should be abnormal. Most people know me as a quiet gentlemen but not today. I will be loud. cheering we are in the midst of a generational fight for our country. For years, the gun lobby said guns will keep us domesti that is not true. Community violence, Domestic Violence and suicide and police violence, how we worship and what we do, we will not take that anymore and guns dont make us free, they brig death and violence and injustice. It is abundantly clear that guns dont keep us free, they can vine what we do and where we go. This decade is strong a powerful moment as gone where we have gained every day. We are not data driven and Public Health laws to save lives. The empty rhetoric of the gun lobby is wrong and we save lives and we use a Public Health and we are here with the recent elections in virginia show just how strong we are. Matt cheering its clear the gun lobby cannot beat us at the ballot box they try to engineer a victory behind us three corrupt president , a corrupt majority leader and are trying to do that to the core but we are not going to let them. We shouldnt be here today but the integrity of our democracy depends on the court doing the right thing and i think that they will. We have worked too hard, to give up now and we cannot turn back to progress. If the gun lobby things they can stop us they are absolutely wrong. No matter what happens in this case, we are committed to making this country free from gun violence. When i started working on this, that was just a few of us and that was a couple of years ago. But now, they have millions of us and our democracy depends on it and we are here and i am so proud to stand off with all of you and bear witness in that we will never give up. cheering you might recognize our next speaker from the main stage of the march of our lives. Or from a cnn town hall where he had a conversation with president obama. If you dont recognize him from all of the work that he has done in his own community it chicago for years and years. It never gets the recognition that it deserves. Please help me in welcoming the recognition here today cheering thank you. First off to want a chance to say every day shootings are everyday problems . That was weak, every day shootings . Our everyday problems. One more time, every day shootings are everyday problems. Thank you. My name is striven basel and i speak for chicago and those in cities across the nation that are being shot and killed on a daily basis. Im not going to read about the many injustices taking place in america, on make sure everyone understands why we are so upset and answer a few questions. What happens to a bus driver who showed up to work late and when they finally show up they dont stick to the routes . They get fired. What happens to a salesman you cant make a single sale all year . They have fired. What happens to a Security Guard you cant keep a single thing secure . They get fired. You probably wonder how does any of this clearly with the situation at hand . Well, its clear multiple fashions in america if you dont do your job you get fired and it seems like most politicians in washington dont know this and capitol hill is not exempt. Mitch mcconnell, you are not exempt from the unemployment line. cheering trust me when i say this, donald trump and the world jobless would be synonymous real soon. cheering now, this statement holds wait for not just donald, its for all the people in this country when you allowed 35,000 people to die by gun violence every year for not doing your job. Theyre separating kids from their parents and locking them in cages you are not doing your job. You sit by and do nothing while black people is five times more than white people, youre not doing her job. We allow racism you are not doing your job. While we are here, lets talk about chicago. Im tired of hearing chicago this and chicago that. People in that step witness out southwest of chicago. Who are tired of listening to able to come to the caught chicago to this guideline and people who know nothing about chicago and love to say chicago has gun laws and will allow me to clarify some things. 60 of guns recovered in chicago of kompromat a state which means that are stricter gun laws are not affective because they dont have any. Now, as far as chicago shootings being gang related, my cousin was shot and killed while sitting in his car and shot and killed while on a bus on his way home from school. Cory parker shot and killed from his home on the 4th of july. So key shall read while getting ready for school dot a smith, killed at a block party. Dominic while writing in the car would friends, shot and killed was sitting in a restaurant, shot and killed in our school and my brother to raul basel while getting ready for band rehearsal. Contrary to what many outlets unofficial want you to believe these deaths are doing anything they are just living their lives but the problem is in the black and Brown Community other same problems in every city across their america and the School Systems are underfunded and theyre overfilled. Politicians are overpaid and anti violence programs are under resourced and at the races are barely held accountable. If all lives matter, black and brown matters are taken and this is an american problem. For too long, she is not value the lives of black, brown and poor. The justices we see on the daily are being blatantly ignored by those on capitol hill. The nations children could be heard across the world and you cant turn a bind either to that or an eye and is to serve all the people and remember that when you step in your office in the morning or when you go to bed at night. I hope on this day the, Supreme Court makes the proper judgment and thank you. cheering the pundits talk about how we have a passion gap on our side of this issue. Do you guys feel the passion gap today . I feel like maybe the gap has shifted to the other side on this issue . I dont know, it seems a little lopsided today. So, we have one final speaker this morning. I am really pleased to introducer today and again, thank you so much for being here and making a really strong statement this morning. I want to welcome to the stage survivor of the shooting in parkland. cheering good morning im a College Student a, black woman and a survivor of the valentines day 2018 shooting at rogers Stoneman Douglas shooting in florida. Ive been borne of a by these speakers and its for mothers, fathers and survivors and what unites us and living in the United States of america words a daily threat and particularly in black and brown communities and we had these School Shootings and we always say it it was not a matter of when it was a mandarin on if but it was a matter of when and the when it was february 2018. It happened over 30 School Shooting since then and one of the latest was santa cory account a foreigner. They marched out of their classes and solid area with my high school and they understand what that march was about and no matter what color you are, with school you went to or where you live gun violence is a reality. Will react reunited and working together but the nra has used our system to advance a radical and irrational agenda but with which eliminate protections that will make our communities safer. They are working against us and this is a shame. This suit uses a law that no longer exist to push for policies and interpretations of the Second Amendment that most of this country does not agree with. If the Supreme Court is the nras interpretation, it could eliminate or lessen the gun safety laws passed and local governments to keep this safe and to keep us safe. And the year after the parkland shooting states past 69 new gun safety measures. Laws intended to stop experiences like mine will be sitting in my fourth period history class wondering underneath might cousins body which was killing him and his other classmate and we will not accept students being shot and if theyre children will come home and are torn appellant by bullets i would not accept the nras agenda. We will not accept any more gun by alliance may and telling the Supreme Court that this is wrong there will be no more parklands and no more las vegas and no more el pasos. No more of the violence that isnt picked up in the news media the, violence that affects minority communities. My uncle, Patrick Edwards was shock in the net when he was just 18 years old which is a story thats far too similar to the families and communities that are disproportionately impacted by gun mylans. My classmates, nicholas should be here at my uncle patrick should be here. The two students in the high school should be here. They should have been a thanksgiving dinner with their families last week. This morning, i want to justice to hear us. Not only when we breathe our statements but the walls of the courts. To hear that the American People, all of us will not accept the laws that will not act we will not accept laws or make us less safe. I want them to hear another is enough. Say it with me. And now is enough enough is enough . Enough is enough i want to thank you all for coming out this morning. We have made so much progress in this movement and we have shown once again that our movement is stronger than ever. We are ready to fight in every arena to pass and defend gun laws and keep us safe. Lets take this energy back in our communities and fight for what we believe in, a safer future, thank you. cheering all right, thank you all for coming out this morning and sticking with us through a little bit of inclement weather. The fight is not over and we will all keep our voices raised loud and goal may calls, to organize rallies and keep doing all the work you do and thank you. cheering