GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Mourners and activists gathered on April 29 at Grand Rapids' Rosa Parks Circle to remember the names and the memories of those lost to gun violence in America.
The rally came on the heels of another mass shooting in Texas that killed five people and multiple shootings in the Grand Rapids area that left three people dead in the last three days.
"When I speak to West Michigan students and parents, the issue comes up almost every single time," U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) said. "Whether or not they're lawful gun owners, they consistently bring up gun violence as something that impacts them, their families and their communities."
Those gathered also kept focus on victims of the February 13 mass shooting that rocked the Michigan State University community and set off new calls for change across the state.
"I'm also here to honor Brian [Fraser], Alexandria [Verner], and Arielle [Anderson]," MSU student Charlotte Plotzke said. "I encourage you all, after today, I don't want you to think of them as the three victims from MSU. I want you to think of them as human. They were daughters, they were sons, they were cousins. They were grandchildren. They were friends. They were leaders."
Calls for change in the months following have resulted in a flurry of new laws that state legislators and gun safety activists have said they believe will help make the state a safer place.
"We passed universal background checks," State Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said. "We passed safe storage laws to keep firearms out of the hands of children and red flag laws so that when someone is a threat to themselves or others, law enforcement and the judicial system can take action to keep firearms out of the equation."
But for those at the rally personally touched by gun violence, they said more can and must be done as Grand Rapids, Michigan and America continue to grapple with the persistent presence of mass shootings.
"We need to go beyond the bare minimum," Plotzke said. "Us as Americans have been conditioned to accept the bare minimum, but we can't do that anymore. It is a safety issue. It is the choice between life and death, the bare minimum. We need to go further."
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