Proponents of gun reform took their message to U.S. Congress with a display of thousands of empty pairs of shoes, memoraliazing children killed in gun shootings since 2012.
An advocacy group, Avaaz, which organized the event said it is intended to bring Congress “face-to-face with the enormous heartbreak of gun violence, and demand they protect America’s children with gun reform.
The demonstration took place in the wake of last month’s deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which claimed 17 lives including students.
Some of the families who lost their children to various shooting incidents put their shoes on the Capitol Hill lawn. According to the organizers the 7000 pairs of shoes memorialized 7000 children who have been killed since 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting.
The participants included Tom Mauser whose son, Daniel, was killed in the Columbine massacre.
“I think this kind of event with shoes offers a very powerful metaphor both for how we miss the victims who once filled those shoes, and also for how we see ourselves wanting to walk in their place, seeking change, so that others don’t have to walk this painful journey,” he said, according to a statement posted by Avaaz on its website.
Emma Ruby-Sachs, Deputy Director of the group said: “The culture on guns is shifting and we can all feel it. Students are walking out of their schools, survivors are marching in the streets, and parents are here on the Capitol to honor the children we’ve lost and make a clear demand: not one more gun death.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, says more than 1,300 U.S. children die every year from guns.
Americans have been debating school safety and gun reforms in the wake of Florida school shooting.
Later this week, Congress is expected to vote on a bill that has President Trump’s support toward allocating more funding for school security.
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows people to bear arms, and opponents of gun control or stricter reform say such a step would impinge on their right to having firearms. Instead, the gun owners suggest other measures like arming school officials with guns.
