Gun Show Near Sandy Hook, Newtown Underway, Protesters Attend
A gun show in Stamford, Connecticut — 40 miles from the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown — has gone on despite outcry that the event is offensive to the grieving residents nearby, prompting protests from concerned residents.
The gun show near Newtown was held despite the tragedy at Sandy Hook just three weeks ago, and Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia (a Republican) told NBCNewYork that it “seems insensitive to have the event continue” so close to the murder spree last month.
Similar events in New York by the same gun show promoter were canceled following the Newtown shootings, but the event in Stamford continued, with many opponents gathering outside and holding signs bearing statements like “NRA kills our kids.”
Adding insult to injury, an advertisement for the “East Coast Fine Arms Show” ran alongside coverage of the Sandy Hook shootings in a local paper, prompting further outrage online over what many deemed a decision in poor taste.
Occupy offshoot Occupy The NRA was one of the groups slated to attend the Connecticut gun show in protest of the event, urging members to rally outside the gun show near Newtown to protest the decision between 2 PM and 4 PM. Pictures of the protest appeared on Twitter as users discussed the controversy.
A group of protesters outside a gun show in Stamford, CT. @foxct twitter.com/RyanBernat/sta…
— Ryan Bernat, WTIC-TV (@RyanBernat) January 5, 2013
@1mm4gc Protesting the gun show at the Stamford Plaza in CT twitter.com/robinwexler/st…
— Robin Aronson Wexler (@robinwexler) January 5, 2013
Despite protests, the gun show will be open in Stamford on Sunday as well.
