'Our outrage will be able to get things moving again': Vigil focuses on blight of gun violence
Dozens of people packed a room inside the Jeron X. Grayson Community Center in the Hill District Thursday, as they honored victims of gun violence.
The Clergy Council of Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence and CeaseFirePA co-hosted a vigil as part of Gun Violence Awareness Month.
Speakers took turns reciting the names of every person killed by gun violence in Allegheny County in 2023.
The event comes amid renewed widespread attention on the 2018 synagogue shooting, as survivors of the massacre and relatives of the victims brace themselves for the death penalty phase that is slated to start Monday.
"Only our outrage will be able to get things moving again," said Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, of the New Light Congregation. "Only our outrage will be able to shut down some of these gun manufacturers who decide, ‘Ya know, guns shouldn't be playthings for children.'"
Perlman was inside the Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 27, 2o18, and helped direct survivors to safe places to hide. He testified earlier this month during the guilt phase of the shooter's trial.
Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence was formed after the mass shooting that day in 2018, comprised of survivors, members of the three congregations that were attacked, and people in the greater Pittsburgh community.
The group has advocated for the advancement of legislation on four fronts:
- Universal background checks
- Extreme risk protection orders (commonly known as red flag laws)
- Banning high-capacity magazines
- Banning military-style/assault weapons
The Pennsylvania House passed two gun control bills related to expanding background checks and red flag laws, respectively, but they would need to pass through the Republican-controlled Senate before getting to the governor's desk.