Guns Across America: ‘High noon’ pro-gun rally fires off on Beacon Hill

More than a thousand gun toting firearm owners gathered at the State House on Beacon Hill Saturday – at high noon – to protest gun control legislation recently proposed at the federal and state levels.

The “Guns across America Rally Massachusetts” rally, hosted by the Gun Owners’ Action League, was held for what the group calls “unconstitutional events” that took place in New York state, as well as gun control legislation recently proposed by Gov. Patrick.

The event was promoted on Facebook, and was described as “a peaceful picketing protest against ANY, AND ALL future gun legislation.” Organizers yesterday estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 people turned out for the event.

Organizers called on gun rights activists to contact Gov. Deval Patrick and other Mass. officials to say the, “new control legislation will do nothing to stop crime, or lower crime statistics, it will only continue to heap punishment on law abiding gun owners by further restricting and controlling what we can lawfully purchase, possess and do.”

“People don’t realize that the firearm community is a very diverse crowd,” said rally attendee Matthew DeVito, president of the Down Range Firearms Training in Woburn. “On television, people are portrayed as uneducated, rednecks, or hicks… People don’t realize there are plenty of professional people who own guns.”

Some rally goers were expected to carry concealed weapons to the demonstration.

“If they were carrying guns, you’d never know it,” said DeVito. “No one had guns up in the air. No one was throwing bottles. It was a peaceful, respectful event for us to voice our concerns.”

Jayne Irvine drove up from Cape Cod to attend the event, not in the name of guns – she doesn’t own one – but in defense of constitutional rights.

“How can the government think they have any jurisdiction to take away people’s rights?” said Irvine. “I don’t see where it is going to end. It is not the government’s job to interpret our rights.”

Gov. Patrick unveiled a bill on Wednesday that would tighten access to high-powered rounds of ammunition, create four new types of firearms-related crimes and mandate buyers to undergo background checks before purchasing weapons at gun shows. It would also restrict gun owners to purchasing one firearm a month.

Eric Reed, the man who organized “Guns Across America, is interviewed in the video below: