Hundreds march across Golden Gate Bridge to protest gun violence
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mass shootings and gun violence have become common headlines these days even as the battle over gun laws continues. On Sunday, a colorful expression of support for stricter gun laws was held at the entrance to the Golden Gate.
The Golden Gate Bridge is San Francisco's most iconic landmark and a group called Moms Demand Action has adopted a somewhat-different shade of orange as inspiration for their ten-year fight against gun violence. Hundreds of supporters gathered on the bridge for the "Wear Orange" march across the span which has become an annual event.
"I'm so happy that you're here, wanting to take action with us," event organizer Alex Navarro told the crowd. "Showing up means so much to the survivors."
One of those survivors is Arthur Renowitzki. He was shot and paralyzed in a random armed robbery in San Francisco in 2007 and, 15 years later, the bullet is still inside him.
"Go to the hospital, that bullet is still there. When I get a checkup, that bullet is still there," he said. "It's a constant reminder that, you know, gun violence is real every single day and it can happen to anybody."
It happened to Susan Bolle when she was just eleven years old. These days, the gunshot survivor heads up an activist group called the Bay Area Coalition and has become an advocate for laws that limit who can purchase a firearm.
"It's out of control," Bolle said. "Mental health is an issue but it's absolutely not the issue. It's the guns."
With that, the orange-clad march across the windswept bridge began. It probably wasn't the kind of thing that would change the mind of a gun rights advocate but Shel Berham said what's really changing people's attitudes about guns are the mass shootings happening so often across the nation.
"It's gotten way out of control," Berham said. "It's hard to turn the tide but I think, if enough people start thinking about it rationally, we'll make the new laws."
"Out of control" is a common expression people use to describe the level of gun violence in America these days. Gun rights advocates say the issue is mental illness not guns. But those who want to make guns harder to obtain believe if you can't control the intentions of angry people, you should at least limit their power to inflict misery on others.