A Christian group organized with the far-left anti-gun group “March for Our Lives” last week to advocate for gun control in Franklin.
The Southern Christian Coalition partnered with the David Hogg founded group to host the rally, which was dubbed “Protect Kids Not Guns,” The Williamson Herald reported.
Several survivors of mass shootings spoke at the event, including Sarah Newman, a parent of a Covenant School student. That school was subjected to a mass shooting at the hands of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, in late March.
“After the Covenant shooting and the five years that have passed since the largest mass shooting in United States history, nothing has changed,” Kari Kueffler, a survivor of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Music Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, reportedly said. “I stand here asking you for us to continue the action, us to continue to stand together, us to continue to ask our leaders to listen and to think of common-sense gun laws to protect our community.”
The Southern Christian Coalition is a progressive Christian group.
“The Southern Christian Coalition is a project of ForwardTN and a grassroots, all-volunteer driven organization,” according to the organization’s website. “Across our country, political debate uses ideology in the guise of Christian theology to push policies that harm our communities and isolate us from our neighbors as society weighs important decisions. We are a community of Christians speaking up on the values of our faith.”
Earlier in the year, the group launched a petition against Tennessee’s permitless carry law.
The petition said:
Governor Lee, you have advocated for a bill that would allow for permitless carry of a firearm in our state. Our current permitting system ensures that proper background checks and safety training are done before an individual can carry a concealed weapon. It is imperative that we maintain the existing permitting system to prevent further tragedy in our state. Studies have shown that states that have weakened their firearm permitting system have experienced an 11 percent increase in handgun homicide rates and a 13-15 percent increase in violent crime rates. And a majority of non-gun owners and gun owners across the political spectrum agree that high safety standards are an essential part of the concealed carry permitting system.
Last week, The Tennessee Star reported that a Christian organization called The Center for Contemplative Justice is behind a progressive LGBT group called Inclusion Tennessee, which is growing in Nashville.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Gun Reform Activists” by Southern Christian Coalition.
