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http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jan/06/local_woman_plans_gun_protest26794/
By Nadine Parks (Contact) The Post and Courier Sunday, January 6, 2008
Event aims to close loopholes in buying of firearms
Sallie Duell picked up the morning newspaper in November and read that North Charleston had been named the 7th-most- dangerous city in the nation. That's when she knew she had to do something.
Duell, of Charleston, is organizing a brief protest for tougher gun laws Tuesday morning outside City Hall at Meeting and Broad streets downtown. It's part of a movement called Protest Easy Guns — concerned citizens who, like Duell, are searching for a solution to a growing trend of violence.
At 11 a.m., Duell and 31 of her friends and acquaintances will lie down on the sidewalk for three minutes in front of the city building. The number of people represents the 32 victims shot to death last year at Virginia Tech. The three minutes represents the estimated amount of time it took the gunman in the college shooting to purchase his guns.
Duell's friend, Abigail Spangler, started the movement in her hometown of Alexandria, Va. Now Spangler has a Web site, and the three-minute protests are being held all over the country.
Duell isn't opposed to gun ownership. She grew up around hunters and their guns. What she wants are laws that make it illegal for criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns.
State laws already prevent felons and people with documented cases of mental illness from buying a gun in a gun shop, but anyone can purchase a gun from an individual.
"This is not about taking guns away from hunters. It's not about taking guns away from people who are protecting themselves," Duell said. "It's about opening a dialogue about how we can close those loopholes that allow criminals and the mentally unstable to have access to guns."
Tuesday is the opening day of the legislative session in South Carolina. Another protest will be held Jan. 29 in Columbia.
On April 16, the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, the movement plans identical protests around the country.
"So we'll have another one here," Duell said.
Reach Nadine Parks at nparks@postandcourier.com or 937-5573.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jan/06/local_woman_plans_gun_protest26794/
By Nadine Parks (Contact) The Post and Courier Sunday, January 6, 2008
Event aims to close loopholes in buying of firearms
Sallie Duell picked up the morning newspaper in November and read that North Charleston had been named the 7th-most- dangerous city in the nation. That's when she knew she had to do something.
Duell, of Charleston, is organizing a brief protest for tougher gun laws Tuesday morning outside City Hall at Meeting and Broad streets downtown. It's part of a movement called Protest Easy Guns — concerned citizens who, like Duell, are searching for a solution to a growing trend of violence.
At 11 a.m., Duell and 31 of her friends and acquaintances will lie down on the sidewalk for three minutes in front of the city building. The number of people represents the 32 victims shot to death last year at Virginia Tech. The three minutes represents the estimated amount of time it took the gunman in the college shooting to purchase his guns.
Duell's friend, Abigail Spangler, started the movement in her hometown of Alexandria, Va. Now Spangler has a Web site, and the three-minute protests are being held all over the country.
Duell isn't opposed to gun ownership. She grew up around hunters and their guns. What she wants are laws that make it illegal for criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns.
State laws already prevent felons and people with documented cases of mental illness from buying a gun in a gun shop, but anyone can purchase a gun from an individual.
"This is not about taking guns away from hunters. It's not about taking guns away from people who are protecting themselves," Duell said. "It's about opening a dialogue about how we can close those loopholes that allow criminals and the mentally unstable to have access to guns."
Tuesday is the opening day of the legislative session in South Carolina. Another protest will be held Jan. 29 in Columbia.
On April 16, the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, the movement plans identical protests around the country.
"So we'll have another one here," Duell said.
Reach Nadine Parks at nparks@postandcourier.com or 937-5573.