Sat 5/13 @ 10AM
Sat 5/13 @ 1PM
You probably shouldn’t bet against another mass shooting taking place somewhere in the U.S. before Saturday May 13. It’s more likely than not that last weekend’s mass shooting will have gone down the memory hole, replaced by a new atrocity. And no, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, it’s not about “mental health.” It’s about GUNS. (Making Abbott’s words even emptier and more hypocritical, Texas ranks 50th in the amount spent on mental health services.)
So while you might be thinking “Isn’t it timely that two big events advocating for stricter gun laws are taking place just a week after a mass shooting in Texas?” it isn’t really. Any time is a good time to remind people that assault-type weapons — weapons of war — are intended for only one purpose: to kill a lot of people quickly.
Start the day at the Trinity Cathedral Urban Farm, located at East 35th and Cedar Avenue, where a team of growers works every Saturday to raise organic produce for hungry people in the city. There the Reverend Rosalind Hughes, rector of Euclid’s Church of the Epiphany and an anti-violence activist, will be presenting her Guns to Gardens program, in which she brings a small, portable forge to melt down gun parts and reshape them into gardening tools.
“It is more vital than ever to turn the tide on gun violence,” says the Rev. Hughes. “The prophet Isaiah first spoke about beating swords into plowshares, and second, the vision of peace in which the wolf shall lay down with the lamb, into which a little child shall lead us.”
“This isn’t just about gun safety, public policy, or even civic witness,” says Trinity dean Bernard J. Owens. “This names our worship of guns over people as idolatrous, as we throw weapons into the fire to be turned from something that destroys life, into something that cultivates life.”
Visitors can also tour the Trinity Urban Farm, where volunteers grow thousands of pounds of fresh organic produce each year, all of which is donated to neighborhood residents in need. All are welcome, and you can learn about the work going on at the farm. Hopefully some of its hundreds of tulips will still be blooming as well. Get more information here.
Then head over to Wade Oval at University Circle where, from 1-2:30pm, Moms Demand Action will be rallying and marching for a national assault weapons ban, such as the one we had from 1994-2004. People will gather at 1pm for the 1:30pm step-off for the 1.5-mile walk in University Circle. They’ll be providing postcards for you to send to your congresspersons. Go here for information and to sign up, although you don’t have to. Everyone’s welcome and bring any friends who are angry about the proliferation of guns, especially in Ohio, where the legislature is loosening gun laws against the wishes of most people in the state to make the state more dangerous.