How many of us here still remember the gory event that took place in the US State of Connecticut on Friday 14th December 2012? A 20-year old gunman, Adam Lanza, had gone into Sandy Hook Elementary School located in Newtown Connecticut and had shot 28 people including 20 children aged between 5 and 10. Lanza himself was among the 28 dead for he shot himself too. You can read more on this on Reuters.
That event ignited a US-wide and worldwide debate about the rightness of gun rights. It seemed that in this debate, the National Rifle Association - an American pressure group whose membership boasts some of the most influential Americans and which has its strongest base in the US State of Texas - was pitched against the rest of mankind. The US President, Barack Obama wept openly as he broke the news officially saying 'our hearts are broken today'. Then, he proceeded to send a bill to the US Congress asking for a review of gun rights across US states.
That debate has taken a new turn as a group of gun rights activists, all carrying fire arms openly, gathered in San Antonio Texas on Saturday, 19th October 2013 - less than a year since the Connecticut massacre - to lay a claim on their right to carry guns, and not just to carry guns, but to carry long guns openly. Ironically, this is already allowed in Texas. But the demonstration was to forestall a move which they suspected the Texas State Police was about to make: to arrest those carrying fire-arms openly.
It appears guns are sacred objects for this group of between 300 and 400 people. First, they gathered in the Alamo, a town that could qualify as the Mecca of Texas. It is the town that represents the sacrifice Texans made to gain their Independence from Mexico in 1836. Now, a chapel stands their as a monument to commemorate the 200 Texan soldiers that died there on February 23, 1836 after 13 days of valiantly resisting thousands of Mexican forces. Although those soldiers died, the Texans eventually got their independence from Mexico that year.
This pro-gun protest of Saturday was held outside that chapel of commemoration, breaking a long-standing tradition of not allowing such events there. What's more? Those gun-wielding blokes quoted the Holy Bible in support of their demand to be allowed to carry long guns openly. One of the scriptures they quoted was 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 which says 'You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. So, brethren, in whatever state each was called, there let him remain with God'. Another Bible passage they quoted was Luke 22:36 which says, "But he said to them 'now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword, sell his mantle and buy one'"
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| Gun Rights activists carrying guns openly and citing Bible passages to justify their demand (Photo credit: Yahoo News) |
Some distance away, a group of mothers were holding a counter-rally.
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