HARRISBURG, Pa. — Though it was a rainy in Harrisburg on Tuesday, dozens of anti-gun violence advocates and city and state officials stood tall.
"We cannot coat this anymore – this is real, this is our reality," said Tina Ford, mother of Armani and the founder of Mothers of Murdered Sons (MOMs). "I see a lot of times it doesn't affect people, and they don't understand it because it's not in their world. This is our world. This is our story."
The goal of the gathering was to push for further legislation to control the use of firearms and, in turn, curb gun violence.
Governor Tom Wolf was in attendance and called on the general assembly to pass legislation to help the ongoing issue of gun violence in Harrisburg and around the state. He said Republican legislators have only slowed the process.
"Instead of taking action to protect our communities to put these common-sense actions into place, Republicans have instead chosen to pass dangerous legislation that would make all of us even less safe," said Wolf.
The governor has previously worked to address the crisis in the Commonwealth through investing $50 million in grassroots and community gun violence prevention programs.
Sharon King of Philadelphia lost her one and only son three years ago to gun violence. She hopes to see a solution to the problem that affected her firsthand.
"I don't even watch the news anymore because I can't, because every time I turn around, somebody is dying," she said. "When is it going to stop?"
Dr. Val Finnell, a gun rights activist and Pennsylvania's director for Gun Owners of America, says curbing gun violence is a must. However, he sees this as a problem of violence, not of guns themselves.
"The problem is related to gang violence and the violence surrounding the drug culture," said Finnell. "Whether it's committed with a firearm [or] whether it's committed with knives, guns [or] baseball bats, it's a serious problem and that's where we have to put our efforts."
Finnell says adding more restrictions will give criminals leeway to find other ways to commit crimes.
"The more gun laws that are passed, law-abiding citizens like you and me – we obey them but criminals will skirt them," he said. "They'll find a way around, and it restricts the rights of...ordinary people who really just want to protect themselves and their families."