The national arms debate continues to grow as a result of the recent massacre of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, and as mass shootings continue in seemingly non-stop communities across the country.
In the Bay Area on Saturday, a gun purchase organized by Marin County attracted a staggering number of people. And separately, hundreds of residents joined an anti-gun march across the Golden Gate Bridge.
“We were expecting a lot of people, but not so many people,” said San Rafael Police Chief David Spiller, looking at a line of cars outside the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, where the purchase was being made. ‘weapons.
Marin County, in collaboration with several local police agencies and city governments, held the repurchase ceremony. It allows people to carry weapons they no longer want and leave them unanswered. Then the guns are destroyed.
San Mateo County also hosted a repurchase of weapons in a parking lot south of San Francisco on Saturday.
Marin’s repurchase act opened at 9 p.m. By then, there were dozens of cars waiting.
“I think people’s attitudes toward guns are changing,” said Kate Colin, mayor of San Rafael. “After the mass shootings we’ve seen recently, I think people are wondering, ‘What can we do at home?’ “That’s what they can do.”
Traffic near the anonymous gun repurchase program at the Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
Felix Uribe / Special to The Chronicle
Spiller said he hoped the event would remove hundreds of guns from the streets.
“It’s heartbreaking to see so many people around here,” said Lori Frugoli, Marin County District Attorney, adding that they had been raising funds for months. After the mass shooting at Uvalde Elementary School, he said, donations increased.
Brother and sister John Anderson and Ellin Purdom arrived at the repurchase as soon as it opened, though they still had to wait in line. They had inherited several weapons from a father-in-law: “He was a gunman,” Anderson said, and they wanted to “get rid of him.”
“That’s great,” Purdom said. “We are very grateful to have them out of the house and out of the street.”
Meanwhile, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, organizers with Moms Demand Action, an advocacy group fighting for gun safety, were gathering for their annual Wear Orange march against armed violence.
Shannon Watts, the group’s founder, said the event was about raising awareness on the issue, this year and every year, and “continuing the momentum” in the fight to get politicians to pass arms security laws with more common sense.
“It’s about daily gun violence,” he said. “Our anger and our reach cannot diminish.”
Several hours before the event, Petaluma police responded to a call shortly before midnight at the Roaring Donkey bar, where a patron threatened staff, saying he was going to “shoot” the establishment, according to officials. The suspect left before police arrived, but the threat was considered credible and several local bars decided to close early at night. Police officers said they were conducting additional patrols in the area.
A recent study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that by 2020, there were an average of 124 people killed by a gun each day in the United States, 15 more than in 2019.
Hundreds of attendees included Congresswoman Jackie Speier. Participants of all ages carried signs that said “Let’s protect our children, not guns” and “DO SOMETHING.”
Dr. Mike Schrader, president of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, said it was important for him to take part in the walk to raise awareness about armed violence and push for measures such as background checks and red flag laws, more regulation of ghost weapons and “reasonable restrictions” on weapons.
“So many people are being killed by armed violence of all kinds,” he said. “That’s why this is so important.”
“I can’t even count the number of people I’ve seen injured or killed by guns,” added Dr. Monique Schaulis, an emergency physician and former group chair.
After a short rally, protesters carried their signs across the Golden Gate Bridge, quickly filling the pedestrian walkway of an orange sea.
“This is a peaceful way to promote the meaning of guns,” said Mimi Pratt, a volunteer in the San Francisco chapter of Moms Demand Action. “With all the work we do, it’s good to see everyone here and give visibility to the issues.”
Danielle Echeverria is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com