KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — A big crowd decked out in orange appeared for a rally and a march in downtown Kalamazoo to advocate for common sense gun laws and the end to gun violence in the community and the country.
They heard impassioned speeches from Vice Mayor Don Cooney and Gene Kopf, the father of 14-year-old mass-murder survivor Abigail Kopf, asking to seek out common ground to improve gun safety, to allow the government to examine gun violence as a public health crisis and to tighten restrictions on who is eligible to purchase a gun.
They walked over to city hall, which was decorated with an orange banner, for a group photo, then marched to the YWCA on East Michigan Avenue.
It was one of over 150 events held all over the U.S. organized by new grassroots organizations who plan to build members, build consensus and lobby lawmakers for meaningful change in gun policies.
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said it may seem like the community has had a rash of gun violence and murders this year, and while the numbers are up, he views it more as a statistical fluke than a sign of any emerging societal problem.
He said last year, there were a comparatively low number of killings in the county. He says it tends to fluctuate unpredictably.
Getting attended the march and rally, along with a few other elected officials.
The orange clothing was the original idea of a group of Chicago students who were mourning the shooting death of one of their own classmates. It borrows on the idea that, if orange is safe for hunters, it should be safe for everyone else too.
