“Put away your toys”: Black woman confronts NRA protestors at ‘March for Our Lives’
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WASHINGTON, D.C.- A group of pro-gun rights protestors showed up at March for Our Lives on Saturday, ready to show down in the name of the second amendment.
Carrying signs that read “Stop violating our civil rights” and “Armed victims live longer,” the mostly white male Patriot Picket told theGrio that the real issue is bad people – not guns themselves.
But Charita Boseman, a D.C. area resident rocking a “Life Over Guns” jacket and black beret wasn’t afraid to walk up to the protestors and go toe-to-toe in a debate about gun reform.
“Most of the school shootings happen after hours or in the parking lot,” argued one of the guns rights protestors. “One of them was an accidental discharge from a 3rd grader by touching a guys gun.”
“Facts are facts!” Boseman clapped back. “So you’re okay with losing lives because you wanna keep your guns?. Life over guns. You sometimes have to put away your toys to protect lives.”
The two eventually agreed to disagree, shaking hands, but the divide reflects where many in America stand today.
Boseman spoke to theGrio about why she was so passionate and felt the need to speak up:
“This is a public health issue,” she explains. “This is a crisis for our country. Columbine should have been enough. People play with their toys and they want an opportunity to have their rights and we’re not saying we’re taking your rights away, however there needs to be a little more control over those rights. Because guns are obviously getting into the hands of the wrong people.”
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Boseman also called out the disparity between the way gun violence is treated in predominantly black and urban communities versus suburban neighborhoods, which are often targets of mass shooters.
“This has been going on in a lot of urban communities across the country for years,” says Boseman. “It’s kinda like the crack vs opioid crisis, it didn’t really become an issue until it came to suburban America.”
Boseman was one of hundreds of thousands of gun reform protestors who took to Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday. Attendance estimates range from 500,000 to 800,000 people.
Voter registration sites were also available throughout the march, and about 4,000 people registered to vote.
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