(photo from WISH-TV)
(NETWORK IN) Thousands gathered outside the State Capitol building Saturday to voice their support for the 2nd amendment.
With 2A coming under fire recently in the wake of mass shootings and rising murder rates in certain cities across the United States, the peaceful rally organized by several pro-gun groups was part of a national effort to preserve a person’s right to own a gun.
“We’re here to make sure that Americans understand that they have a God given right to protect themselves and their families,” said Indiana Congressman Todd Rokita, who says he pushed the pause button on his US Senate campaign to attend the rally.
“There is no better way as you know to secure your second amendment rights than to be involved in politics,” Rokita said to the crowd. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun!”
Derek Stiver was one of the some 2,000 supporters in the crowd.
“There are too many things going on in the country right now where folks have lost site of the purpose of (the 2nd amendment),” he says. “We expect to exert pressure back against those who do see the point of the 2nd amendment existing anymore.”
Jack Papilo says anti-gun groups are taking advantage of national tragedies like the Parkland mass shooting, the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, or Sandy Hook, to sue them as a “spring board to trample on everybody’s civil rights.”
“The 2nd amendment is not just about the right to self defense or the right to bare arms,” said Papilo “But rather about human dignity and individual liberty as a whole.”
Anti-gun groups like “March For Our Lives” have been calling on lawmakers to update or in some cases do away with the second amendment all together.