Hundreds of people gathered outside the Montana state capitol steps in Helena on Saturday to provide a pro-Second Amendment alternative to the March For Our Lives gun control event in Washington, D.C.
Called March For Our Guns, the event began with an impassioned speech from organizer Brent Webber.
“Our freedoms come first,” Webber said. “No one will infringe on our right to keep and bear arms.”
Other pro-gun marches were reportedly held in Idaho, Utah, and other states, according to NPR.
A “March for Our Guns” rally convened near the steps of Montana’s Capitol in response to the “March for Our Lives” rallies across the country.
One speaker’s message: “Our freedoms come first. No one will infringe on our right to keep and bear arms.”https://t.co/biTmHgdFEF pic.twitter.com/3lv4YSn59q
— NPR (@NPR) March 25, 2018
And like the other demonstration, young people were clearly a part of this counter-movement as well.
“I believe that self-defense is a God-given right,” said 18-year-old speaker Joey Chester. “I don’t want to see that infringed upon for law-abiding citizens.”
Young people asked to speak at March for our Guns event in Helena. #mtnews pic.twitter.com/0Tl6yzxRgR
— Phil Drake (@GFTrib_PDrake) March 24, 2018
Nicole Giacomini, a mother and military vet, had a special word for the “snowflakes” who want to ban inanimate objects.
“It’s a violent society, snowflakes,” said Giacomini. “Evil doesn’t disappear because you pass some laws. It rallies harder.”
“They need to get educated about guns,” one student said of some of his classmates who attended a gun control event at a nearby park. “Media has been shoved in their head that guns will kill them, that guns are evil, and only bad people carry guns. That’s so untrue.”
Other speakers included Montana state GOP Rep. Seth Berglee, who said teachers with concealed carry permits should be allowed to carry at school.
“The idea that disarming citizens is the path to school safety is a farce,” said Berglee.
About 150 attend March for our Guns rally in Helena. #mtnews pic.twitter.com/aYO0zEJFwv
— Phil Drake (@GFTrib_PDrake) March 24, 2018