BY DONNA ACETO | Gays Against Guns was formed in June 2016 in the wake of what was then the most lethal mass shooting in modern American history — the murder that month of 49 people and wounding of another 58 in an Orlando gay nightclub holding its weekly Latinx night. On October 2, several hundred activists affiliated with the group took to the streets in Manhattan to mark the sad fact that the Orlando massacre’s record had been broken, with the tragic murder of 58 concertgoers and wounding of nearly 500 others in Las Vegas the night before.
The Gays Against Guns contingent met at Union Square at 6 p.m., and a half hour later began marching up Broadway to Times Square, where the demonstrators rallied at the Red Staircase.
The day before, as the Las Vegas concertgoers looked forward to what they thought would be an evening of outdoor music and fun, Gays Against Guns traveled by van to a gun show in Pennsylvania hoping to engage strong Second Amendment boosters on the facts of gun violence and the solutions before the American people. According to the group, it is the only gun violence group that has engaged those on the other side in this kind of direct dialogue that it acknowledges “can be uncomfortable at times.” But, the group insists, “this is what must happen if we want to change minds and save lives.”
Gays Against Guns meets next at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., on Thurs., Oct. 5 from 7-9 p.m. — Additional reporting by Paul Schindler
