Greenwich Council on Gun Violence Rallies on the Avenue

For many it was a family affair. Phyllis Jacob brought her daughter-in-law and young grandson. Chris Starr rallied with his wife, Susie. Leslie Asllani brought her four and five-year-old grandsons.

Saturday's rally outside the old Post Office on Greenwich Avenue, organized by Liz Perry of the Greenwich Council on Gun Violence (GCGV), drew about 40 advocates for safer gun laws over the course of two hours, including several elementary school age children.

"I tell them some bad people hurt other people," said Asllani about how she talks to her young grandsons about gun violence. "You try not to scare them too much so that they aren't afraid to go to school."

Asllani, who lives in Stamford, participated in both the Valentine's Day 'March for Change' in Hartford last month, and the March on Washington for Gun Control in January.

"My friend and co-worker is best friends with a couple who lost their daughter in Newtown. One who didn't die right away. We cried and prayed for hours that day as we waited for the news. It really effected me. My two grandsons are four and five-years-old and live here in town, in Wilbur Peck. I worry about them."

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Sandy Litvack of Greenwich explained why he spent his Saturday at the rally. "This is important. People are being killed. This year 18,209 people have been shot. On average, eleven people are shot every hour in this coutry. What the hell are we doing?" asked Litvack. "We have to speak up and say, 'Enough is enough.' We have to get this under control."

Chris Starr of Old Greenwich explained his feelings of concern. His wife works in a school. His sister and two nieces are school teachers. "I want them safe and sound. I don't know how anyone is opposed to safer gun laws. Magazines with 28 rounds, 7.6 caliber cartridges...That was not the original intention of the Founding Fathers."

Starr, who grew up in Greenwich and was a member of the last Greenwich High School class to graduate from the location that is the current Town Hall, recalled his last rally. "I stood right here in this spot in the 1960s. We protested Vietnam."

"We're back to our roots," said Starr's wife, Suzy.

Starr nodded. "It's still about non-violence."

Several participants at the rally hailed from outside the United States. Sholan Jacob, who attended the rally with her son Justin and her mother-in-law, Phyllis Jacob, explained that she was originally from Kazakhstan. "We never had gun issues. I didn't grow up afraid."

Longtime Greenwich resident Beth Kornberg, who brought her children up overseas in Japan and Hong Kong, recalled the years in Hong Kong in particular. "They are not a violent society. Yes, they had mafia, but it was so rare for someone to be killed that it was a headline. Kids, by the age of about 12, would run around, taking public transportaton on their own. It was safe. I never feared for my life or theirs."

An English woman who brought her young son to the rally and was reluctant to give her name for fear of being seen as critical of the US, shared her perspective. "In the United States, people just don't seem to realize how much sway people with money have. The NRA. The lobbyists. But people do seem to want a change in the gun laws."

GCGV's Perry agreed. "The NRA is not a hunter's association any more. There was a huge coup in the NRA. Then Wayne LaPierre arrived."

Perry went on to say that she had heard state senator Scott Frantz speak the previous weei in Stamford. "Frantz said Connecticut could have done what New York did and pass laws quickly, but  they wanted to get together and do it in a bipartisan way. He said, 'We are very close to releasing our bipartisan recommendations,' and didn't want to comment for fear of jeopardizing the cooperation. That was Monday," said Perry. "On Wednesday, the parties released separate proposals and acknowledged they'd not been able to agree. There was nothing about a semi-automatic weapons ban. Nothing about banning high capacity magazines. It is just appalling," said Perry.

During the two-hour rally, a Greenwich police officer directed cars and pedestrians through the busy inersection of Arch Street, Havemeyer Place and Greenwich Avenue. Drivers honked their horns in support of the rally, though there were occasional thumbs-down gestures.

A uniformed parking enforcement officer in search of expired meters, paused to mutter, "You people are sick," as he walked past Phyllis Jacob and her daughter-in-law Sholan, who were being interviewed by Patch. "Did he really just say that?" asked Jacob, shaking her head in disbelief.

Others reported receiving encouragement from the police. Leslie Asllani, the grandmother with two boys in tow, described how her husband had a legal, registered pistol in their home for 25 years. "It was hidden in a drawer under the bed, way in the back. But it always made me uncomfortable," she said, adding that a few weeks ago she turned it over topolice. "I had missed the gun buy-back event, so they came down to the parking lot to meet me and pick it up. Then, the captain took me upstairs to do the paperwork and I was surprised to receive a $75 gift card. That's not why I turned it in. I just wanted it out of the house."

GCGV's Perry said she was pleased with Saturday's turnout, but emphasized that advocating for change is a long process and she hopes to keep up the public pressure for stronger gun laws both in Connecticut and nationally.