Rhode Island 'Stand Your Ground' Rally A Boon For Gun Rights Advocates, Candidates

Will Grapentine

The statehouse got an early wake-up call Sunday afternoon as gun-rights and enthusiasts gathered for the Gun Rights Across America's 'Stand Your Ground' Rally.

The event - part of a national movement occurring at capitals across all fifty states - was spearheaded by keynote speaker and General Assembly candidate Ed Doyle.

Taking place on a cold Sunday (complete with thirty-degree wind gusts), a crowd of over three hundreds amassed on the front steps of the state house to air their grievances in regards to their Second Amendment rights and to call out the elected leaders whose goal it is to impede them.

Each speaker focused on a different facet of gun rights, from statistical data to rebuttal of the anti-gun argument.

"When a drunk driver kills someone with a Pontiac, they hold the driver responsible, but when someone dies in a shooting, the blame is (always directed at) the gun" said Dexter Liu, a Gun Rights advocate from Aquidneck Island.

Liu went on give various statistics from numerous federal agencies that underscored how anti-gun backlash is rooted in emotion and not fact.

"Numbers are on our side" he said.

The bi-partisan event underscored the across-the-isle nature of firearm rights, both in who came out to support the event and also who didn't.

"Gubernatorial Hopefuls Raimondo has declared an open war on weapons...Tavaras has joined Alan Fung in Mayors against Guns...and Ken Block has decided to be undecided in a moderate fashion" said 990WBOB's own Todd Giroux.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate - the only one present at the rally - was one of many to tie one freedom to a number of others.

"The Second Amendment is the only Amendment that can protect and enforce all other amendments, Including the First Amendment of Free Speech, The fourth against search and seizure" Giroux said.

Did you know that many states will arrest protesters for not having a permit to protest" he posed. "Are you kidding me ?"

Other speakers, such as RI GUN BLOG's Tim Jones, spoke on how the root cause of gun violence is not the gun itself.

"Most crimes are committed by those is lower income brackets" Jones said.

"If that's the issue maybe our elected officials should focus on the real cause of violence --- poverty."

From the wide swath of supporters in the audience to the diverse group of speakers at the podium, the message was regardless of what adversity political foes push on gun rights, they will always be met with loyal opposition.

"The fight for guns is like simple physics: As government expands, liberty contracts" said Sarah De La Certa, a college student and president of BLEU Enterprises, a political consulting firm.

"As President Reagan said, 'freedom is just one generation away from extinction" - an improbable outcome in the minds of those standing on the state house steps that day.

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