Nick Iannelli, wtop.com
WASHINGTON — Dozens of gun control advocates braved chilly temperatures Thursday morning, seeking comment from National Rifle Association officials.
MomsRising — a national organization that advocates for issues facing women, mothers and families — led the effort and gathered more than 100,000 signatures on a recent petition.
“It basically calls for common sense solutions to reduce gun violence,” says Gloria Pan of MomsRising. “We would love to see universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and a ban on high capacity magazines.”
Lori Haas, a mother of a student injured in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, was also in attendance.
“When you have 12,000 murders annually, something is terribly, terribly wrong,” says Haas, referring to gun-related deaths in the country.
The group claims it was snubbed by NRA President David Keene after asking him for a meeting to discuss the group’s concerns, so the group’s members took the petition directly to the organization’s headquarters.
“You need to back off the property; back on the sidewalk,” ordered a security guard, halting the crowd with both hands.
The group was subsequently escorted away from the building by NRA security and a Fairfax County police officer.
WTOP reached out to the National Rifle Association numerous times for comment on Thursday, but did not receive a response.
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