3,000 "MILLION" MOM MARCHERS DEMONSTRATE IN WASHINGTON

May 9, 2004--Members of the Million Mom March gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to push for new gun control laws, most specifically an extension of the 1994 Assault Weapons ban.

The 1994 ban outlawed further production of hundreds of semiautomatic firearms that possessed features which make them look like real military firearms: bayonet lugs, flash suppressors, pistol grips, barrel shrouds, folding or collapsible stocks, threaded barrels, and other features.

Barring congressional action, the ban will sunset on September 13th of this year.

The crowd of Million Mom Marchers, which police estimated at roughly 3,000 in number, was markedly smaller than an estimated 150,000 at a similar event in 2000.

The Million Mom March organization, which has now joined with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence--formerly known as Handgun Control, Inc--is hoping that public pressure will force President Bush to fulfill his campaign promise to extend the ban.

"We are laser-beam focused on this. That's what he said he was going to do, and that's what we're going to hold him to, " said Donna Dees-Thomases, the public relations consultant--and close friend of Hillary Clinton--who was the key organizer of the march four years ago.

In attendance were women as well as men whose relatives had been killed or injured by someone accidentally or criminally misusing a gun.

Also present was a mannequin of President Bush, which people were invited to punch and kick.

The event was kicked off with an interfaith service, followed by several hours of speakers, each taking the stage with the Capitol as a backdrop. Jesse Jackson was on hand, as well as a few members of Congress.

The crowd sang songs, including verses from "We Shall Overcome."

Jesse Jackson, renowned for his oratory, delivered a firey speech that provided the crowd with a new slogan: "We will remember, in November."

In his 1999 presidential campaign, President Bush said he would sign an extension of the 1994 ban if it reached his desk.

However, many House Republican leaders have said that the bill will never get that far.

Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) said in June of last year that most members of congress were willing to let the ban expire in November.

NRA board member Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), essentially said the expiration is a done deal. "They can march, but it will never grace the halls of Congress again," Craig said.

Other members of congress vowed to continue to press for a renewal of the ban.

"Each day that goes by, we are losing time," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland). "The president has . . . got to live up to his promise to get this extension through."

Assault weapons are "made for violence," Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Virginia) told the crowd. "They're made for causing catastrophes. They ought to be illegal."

Absent from the demonstration was former Million Mom March organizer Barbara Graham, who is in prison after being found guilty of stalking, shooting and paralyzing a man she mistakenly blamed for her son's murder. Ironically, when Ms. Graham was arrested, police found a TEC-9 pistol in her possession, a gun banned under the 1994 bill.

Following hours of speeches, members of the crowd began chanting "March, march," which they then did, all the way to the Washington Monument.

No mention was made as to whether the organization plans to change its name to reflect the dwindling number of members.