Gun Advocates Prepare to 'Lock and Load' for Gun Appreciation Day

Gun advocates around the country are rallying for a so-called Gun Appreciation Day today.

Others are calling it Guns Across America.

In Linn County, residents are celebrating Gun Appreciation Day at Greensquare Park beginning at 2 p.m. today (Saturday, Jan. 19).

"Join us in promoting the 2nd Amendment and showing the numbers of people who support your right to own firearms," the invite says. "This is a peaceful demonstration with information, educated people on firearms and the law as well as a few hundred of your closest allies in the fight to save your gun rights."

More than 200 people have registered on the Cedar Rapids Gun Appreciation Day Facebook page.

Nationally, the rally is meant to push back amidst calls for tighter gun control, including President Barack Obama's sweeping proposal for tougher gun laws unveiled on Tuesday.

"On 1.19.13, go to your local gun store, gun range or gun show with your Constitution, American flags and your 'Hands off my Guns' sign to send a loud and clear message to Congress and President Obama," the event's website states. 

"Lock and load," fliers for the event say.

The effort is backed by a range of conservative leaning groups.

The timing of the event has some up in arms. It comes just over a month after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School where a lone gunman shot and killed 20 first-grade students and six school officials. And, it's on the same weekend as the holiday celebrating slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I'm not saying that gun owners don't have a right to organize a Gun Appreciation Day. But holding a day that celebrates guns so close to a day that celebrates the nonviolent leader of a social movement that changed the nation, a leader who was killed by a gun, is an offensive move," said Starita Smith, a writer for Progressive Media Project, in a piece that appeared on KansasCity.com.

"This is an outrage and a slap in the face to Americans who value life and freedom!" an online petition called Stop Gun Appreciation Day states. The petition has more than 30,000 people on board.