ATLANTA (AP) - Hundreds of gun control advocates gathered Saturday in an Atlanta park, blocks away from the National Rifle Association's annual convention.
Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis was among those rallying the crowd at Woodruff Park, urging supporters to "be brave, be bold" in pushing for gun control.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/2psnWhT ) the protest was smaller than organizers had expected. It was the second NRA-related protest in as many days at the park. On Friday, when President Donald Trump delivered a message of support to the NRA, about 300 protesters staged a "die-in" before marching to the convention site.
"I must say to the NRA that you are not welcome here in the 5th District, you are not welcome here in Atlanta," Lewis said. "We need to make our cities, our states, our neighborhoods free of gun violence."
Lewis declined to say Trump's name out loud while referencing the president's Friday visit. More than 80,000 people were expected to attend the convention, which concludes Sunday.
"The man who came yesterday and spoke, it was the first time since Ronald Reagan that (a president) would come to speak to the NRA," Lewis said. "Sometime you have to get angry, you have to have a sense of righteous indignation. Well, I have it, I'm fired up."
Also on hand was Lucia McBath, whose 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was shot to death five years ago in a Florida parking lot by a man who had complained about loud music. The killing drew national attention.
"I'm here along with all these other moms to let the NRA know we're not going to stand for this extremist agenda around the country," the mother from Marietta said. "And we're not going away. The fear mongering, the untruths - we're definitely going to let them know we're not going to stand for it. We're not going to let them keep pushing it, especially in this state I live in, in Georgia."
She said her son's death has galvanized her into action. She now works with Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun-control group that's active in Georgia and helped organized Saturday's rally.
She's also a member of the Everytown Survivor Network traveling the country speaking on the issue.
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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com