Hundreds Rally At City Hall Plaza For Stricter Gun Laws

BOSTON— Hundreds of people rallied Sunday at City Hall Plaza to send a message to Congress about a need for stricter gun control laws. With signs and speeches they petitioned federal lawmakers require expanded background checks that would prevent people deemed to be a danger from acquiring guns.

Activists demanded the federal lawmakers pass life-saving gun law reforms like universal background checks and a federal red flag law. The Boston rally is one of hundreds taking place Sunday across America organized by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in the wake of the most recent mass shootings at El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which together left 31 dead and dozens injured.

"This is more than mass shootings; in recent weeks, gun violence has devastated Baltimore, Gilroy, Canoga Park, Newport News, Brooklyn and Chicago. This is a public health crisis that demands urgent action," organizers said in a statement.

The shootings have been top of mind among voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

"If not now, when?" Mayor Marty Walsh asked a crowd of people cheering from the plaza. "Dear Senate, grow a spine, get a conscious stop the carnage. Stop the gun madness."

In 2017 there were 39,733 reported firearm related deaths in the U.S., 262 of them in Massachusetts, according to the CDC. That statistic includes the number of people who died from self-inflicted gun-related deaths. But it has been on a steady incline since 2014, when the total firearm related deaths were 33,594.

Walsh got a lot of cheers:

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).