The national arms debate continues to swell after the recent massacre of 19 students and two teachers in Uwalde, Texas, and as mass shootings continue in seemingly undiminished communities across the nation.
In the Gulf region, a weapons repurchase on Saturday, organized by Marin County, attracted a surprising number of people. Separately, hundreds of residents joined a march against weapons across the Golden Gate Bridge.
“We were expecting a lot of people, but not so many people,” said San Rafael Police Chief David Spiller, looking at a row of cars in front of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office where the gun purchase was taking place.
Marin County, in partnership with several local police agencies and city officials, hosted the buyout event. It allows people to bring in weapons they no longer want and leave them without asking questions. The firearms are then destroyed.
San Mateo County also hosted a redemption of weapons on Saturday in a parking lot in southern San Francisco.
Marin’s redemption event began at 9 p.m. Then there were dozens of waiting cars.
“I think people’s attitudes toward guns are changing,” said Kate Colin, mayor of San Rafael. “After the mass shootings we saw recently, I think people are wondering, ‘What can we do in our own homes?'” What they can do is do this.
Traffic near the anonymous gun repurchase program at the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
Felix Uribe / Special for The Chronicle
Spiller said he expects the event to take hundreds of weapons out of the streets.
“It’s just warming our hearts to see so many people here,” said Lori Frugoli, Marin County District Attorney, adding that they have been raising money for months. After the mass shooting at the primary school in Uwalde, she said, donations have risen.
Brother and sister John Anderson and Elin Pardham reached the redemption immediately after it opened – although they still had to wait in line. They had inherited several weapons from their father-in-law – “he was a man with a weapon,” Anderson said – and wanted to “get rid of them.”
“It’s so great,” Purdum said. “We are just so grateful that we took them out of the house and out of the street.”
Meanwhile, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, the organizers of the Moms Demand Action, an advocacy group fighting for gun safety, gathered for their annual Wear Orange walk against gun violence.
Shannon Watts, the group’s founder, said the event was aimed at raising awareness, both this year and each year, and “continuing the momentum” in the fight to get politicians to pass smarter gun safety laws.
“It’s about daily gun violence,” she said. “Our anger and our reach cannot subside.”
Hours before the event, Petaluma police responded to a call shortly before midnight at the Roaring Donkey bar, where a patron threatened staff, saying he would “shoot” the restaurant, according to officials. The suspect left before police arrived, but the threat was considered credible and several local bars decided to close early at night. Police said they were conducting additional patrols in the area.
A recent study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Solutions to Gun Violence found that in 2020, there were an average of 124 people killed in guns every day in the United States, 15 more than in 2019.
Hundreds of participants included Congresswoman Jackie Speyer. Participants of all ages held signs reading “Take care of your children, not weapons” and “DO SOMETHING”.
Dr Mike Schrader, president of the San Francisco Marine Medical Society, said it was important for him to take part in the walk to draw more attention to gun violence and to push for measures such as background checks and red flag laws. more regulation of ghost weapons and “reasonable restrictions” on weapons.
“So many people are being killed by all kinds of gun violence,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important.”
“I can’t even count the number of people I’ve seen wounded or killed by guns,” added Dr. Monique Schaulis, an emergency physician and former president of the group.
After a brief rally, protesters carried their signs across the Golden Gate Bridge, quickly filling the sidewalk in an orange sea.
“It’s a peaceful way to promote a sense of gun,” said Mimi Pratt, a volunteer with the Moms Demand Action Division in San Francisco. “With all the work we’re doing, it’s good to see everyone here and make the problems visible.”
Daniel Echeveria is a freelance writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com
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