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Democrats Hold Rally for Gun Control Outside Convention in Philadelphia

Associated Press

When Democrats met Tuesday night in Philadelphia, speakers addressed a range of social issues but barely mentioned the subject of gun violence. Tuesday, Virginia’s attorney general addressed a rally near the Pennsylvania Convention Center urging voters to back candidates who want greater gun controls.

More than a dozen people spoke in support of uniform background checks for anyone buying a gun – among them, parents who had lost children to gun violence, and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011. She urged the crowd to keep working for reforms.

“Stopping gun violence takes courage. We must never stop fighting. Fight, fight, fight!”

Virginia’s attorney general, Mark Herring, recalled the murder of two TV journalists from Roanoke and several mass shootings before urging voters to support Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine this fall.

“When Virginia suffered what was then the worst mass shooting in America at Virginia Tech, Tim Kaine was there to comfort grieving parents, to support wounded students, and to help heal a heart broken state.”

Then, Herring said, Kaine helped implement new limits on who could buy guns in Virginia.

“And he did it in the home state and in the backyard of the NRA.”

Also on hand, Georgia Congressman John Lewis who urged voters to ask candidates if they support universal background checks and other limits on gun ownership.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief
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