More than 150 supporters of stricter gun laws that address the proliferation of mass shootings across the nation gathered at Sunset Woods Park in Highland Park following a march through the downtown area Saturday.
The March For Our Lives rally was one of hundreds that took place across the country with the goal of pushing legislators to take bipartisan action on the matter.
The annual March For Our Lives rallies were started in 2018 after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, by survivors who founded the March For Our Lives organization and have worked toward gun reform.
At a rally organized at the National Mall in Washington D.C., one of those co-founders led “vote them out” chants, while locally it was Sara Knizhnik who repeatedly blared into the megaphone the same words to a crowd that cheered and clapped.
The message of the day was clear: Get legislators out of office if they don’t pass stricter gun laws.
“Any legislator, at any level of government, from either party, who will not vote to put kids and people and their loved ones and their families first, and guns second, vote them out,” Knizhnik said.
The activist is chair of the recently unveiled Lake County Gun Violence Prevention Initiative.
Knizhnik is a Democrat running for a seat on the Lake County Board to represent District 18.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart rolled out the gun prevention program to interrupt cycles of gun violence. The work is to be focused on curbing street violence in Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion.
On Saturday, Knizhnik said the firearms industry benefits from high gun violence in underserved communities like those because it can then sell firearms in more affluent communities with marketing campaigns based in “fear of the other and racism.”
“In my seven years of advocacy, I’ve learned that we have a gun violence epidemic in this country, specifically because we have failed to prioritize ending gun violence in our most underserved and vulnerable communities, and addressing its root causes,” Knizhnik said.
Deerfield resident Christina Heath, who attended with her family, said it’s nerve-wracking and sad to see “no gun” signs at the entrance of schools.
The Skokie elementary school teacher and mother of three said that’s what greets children every day; a constant reminder of gun violence.
“We don’t even use ‘no smoking’ signs anymore, because it’s so obvious that you can’t smoke in certain places and it’s not considered safe,” she said.
At the end of the event, Heath said she was happy to have attended the rally.
“I just feel helpless sitting at home, and I know there are organizations that can help to guide me to make actionable differences,” she said. “I’m learning that I need to do a lot better at informing myself about what legislators I’m voting for when we go to vote.”
During the event, attendees were asked to take out their phones and type on their server, “Roll call 245? to see how their representative voted on the Protecting Our Kids Act this month, following the mass shootings in New York and Texas.
The bill includes eight proposals in a single package, such as raising the age for buying assault rifles from 18 to 21 years old, and ensuring ghost guns are subject to existing federal firearms regulation.
The legislation passed in the House, but it’s unclear if it will pass in the Senate.
Activist Milagros Burgos of Chicago held up a large photo of her daughter Alexandria Imani Burgos, while sitting on the lawn of the park listening to the speakers.
Alexandria was shot and killed by a stray bullet in 2014 when she was 18, when picking up her brother at a friend’s house, her mother said.
Burgos is quick to correct anyone who says she lost her daughter.
“We didn’t lose her, she was taken away,” Burgos said. “We carry that pain every day, and that’s why it’s important we speak out. There’s a purpose, and I have faith that something will change.”
Speaker Margarita Garcia, chief of crisis response services at A Safe Place, said the ripple effect that gun violence causes in communities is incredible and devastating.
She said more education, outreach and prevention plans are needed, and gave a few statistics that have to do with firearms and domestic violence.
“The presence of a gun in a domestic violence incident increases the chance of homicide by at least 500%,” Garcia said.
Other speakers included a physician who treats gunshot victims, activists and mothers who said they are fed up with fearing children will continue to be the victims of gun violence.
