Ahead of another student walk out to protest gun violence, around 200 gun rights advocates had their say outside the New Hampshire statehouse Saturday.
The National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans organized similar events outside statehouses across the country. Despite biting cold weather, gun owners and second amendment advocates from across New Hampshire showed up to hear a range of speakers and to show opposition to any further firearm restrictions.
Alan Rice, president of the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, told the crowd his group and their partners at Gun Owners of America “will not agree to a single word of gun control.”
“Vermont and Massachusetts are busy creating massive gun control,” Rice said. “We need to be the firewall to protect the rest of the country.”
Many of the speakers encouraged the crowd to get involved in the upcoming midterm election by supporting candidates who promise to vote against gun control measures.
State Representative James Spillane asked the crowd to get involved in legislative races outside their district by holding signs or raising money.
“Don’t let the liberals that are trying to take your gun rights away divide the different gun groups into factions. We are all here for a common purpose. And that means we also need to bring the fight where it counts, here to the statehouse,” Spillane said.
But those factions already exist among New Hampshire gun owners. Some gun rights activists instead spent their Saturday down the street at a gun show at the Everett Ice Arena, as they said they’re skeptical of some of the groups involved with the rally.
On Friday, students across the country, including some in New Hampshire, are expected to walk out of the classroom to commemorate the anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School.
