Tag Archives: Sturm Ruger

They March For Our Lives

Posted on March 24, 2018 | 1 comment

Early today, a group of Westport teenagers headed to New York for the anti-gun violence “March for Our Lives.” (Photo/Ted Horowitz)

Democratic Women (and Man) of Westport, in New York. From left: Danielle Dobin, Amy Dowell, Becky Martin, Rob Simmelkjaer, Jen Gorin and Lisa Newman.

The protest at Sturm, Ruger headquarters in Southport. (Photo/Mark Yurkiw)

Saugatuck Elementary School students Owen Hill and Alex Weiner with their signs.

Staples students in New York City. (Photo/Erika Smith)

Former Westporter John Backiel traveled from Florida to Washington, DC for today’s march.

Amy Weiss, in New York City.

And — far from Westport, “at the end of the earth” — Staples High School Class of 2017 graduate Johnny Donovan organized a march for American gap year students.

He’s in Patagonia, Chile. But he’s doing what he can to make all Americans safe.

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Posted in Politics, Teenagers

Tagged "March For Our Lives", Sturm Ruger

Marching? Send Photos!

Posted on March 22, 2018 | 15 comments

This Saturday (March 24), Westporters will join millions of other Americans, in rallies against gun violence (and the politicians who enable it).

There are “March For Our Lives” marches of every size, and nearly every location.

Westporters will gather at 6:30 p.m. in the Bartaco parking lot, then head over the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge to Main Street.

The biggest event is in Washington, DC. Others in New York and Hartford will draw area residents too.

The “06880” tagline is “Where Westport meets the world.” If you’re marching anywhere, please send photos to dwoog@optonline.net. Include caption information, and any other details.

And if you’re going to the Ruger demonstration — or will be part of a counter-demonstration there — we’d like to see those images too.

In 2012, protesters on the Post Road bridge raised the issue of gun violence. This Saturday, they’ll cross it — for the same reason.

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Posted in Media, Politics

Tagged "March For Our Lives", Sturm Ruger

Sturm, Ruger Protest: “Not In My Backyard!”

Posted on March 20, 2018 | 86 comments

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!”

This Saturday at 11 a.m. — while many Westporters march against gun violence in New York, Washington and Hartford — Ruger will be the site of a special protest.

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.)