Sturm, Ruger — one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of assault weapons — is headquartered less than a mile from Westport.
Their Southport office is almost in our backyard.
Which is why the rally Greg Kraut is helping organize is called “Not In Our Backyard!”
Kraut — a Westport RTM member — calls it “a peaceful, educational, family-friendly stand.” Information on ARs will be provided, along with solutions moving forward.
Protestors will stand for 17 minutes — one for every student and teacher murdered last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
They’ll also sign a letter urging Ruger’s investors and vendors to enforce socially responsible investing — and to divest.
Kraut notes that assault weapons account for a small percentage of all gun deaths yearly in the U.S.. But, he says, “they can kill dozens of people in seconds. If a business can’t survive not selling assault weapons with adequate restrictions, then maybe they should have a better business strategy.”
According to Kraut, company co-founder William Ruger Sr. told Tom Brokaw in 1992, “No honest man needs more than 10 rounds in any gun. I never meant for simple civilians to have my 20- or 30-round mags or my folding stock.”
(The event is organized in conjunction with the Fairfield and Westport police departments. Ruger will let protestors use their private property off the Post Road — just past I-95 — to gather. For more information, email greg@gregkraut.com.)
