Friends of gun safe communities will be gathering on the public sidewalk at Route 113 and Allentown Road again on Thursday, June 1, to provide a visible counter voice to the gathering behind closed doors at the Montgomery County Friends of the NRA fundraising banquet at the Franconia Heritage Restaurant.
The message on the Montgomery County Friends of the NRA website for ordering tickets says, “Join other champions of the Second Amendment for dinner, games, auctions, and fun with a chance to win exclusive NRA guns, gear, décor, and collectibles!” The attendees will be eating, bidding, and playing games for guns to raise money for the National Rifle Association in the heart of the Franconia community that ironically has a long history of Christian non-violence and peacemaking. Guns are not Franconia’s heritage.
The National Rifle Association is the largest gun industry lobby in the U.S., the biggest obstacle for decades to passing common sense gun safety legislation at all levels of government, and the biggest promoter of gun proliferation in our communities. The call to “preserve second amendment rights” is really a call for more guns everywhere. It is a cynical call to oppose all gun legislation that might keep our kids and our communities safe.
The voices outside on the roadside will advocate for freedom from gun violence. We hope that our legislators who have common sense gun safety bills on their desks in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. will hear us. We won’t know much about what goes on inside the banquet hall, unless the Friends of the NRA have changed their closed-door policy. Last year journalists, including a team from Fox 29 News, who simply wished to interview some fundraiser attendees, were turned away by security guards and shown the sign posted on the door that said, “No press. No media.”
Neighbors who oppose gun violence and who support gun sense legislation are invited to join the demonstration along 113 across from the Franconia Heritage Restaurant at 4:00. People can park at the Franconia Community Park, 671 Allentown Rd., Telford, and walk or be shuttled to Route 113.
Richard Detwiler
Souderton