{"id":819,"date":"2018-03-24T21:30:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T01:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=819"},"modified":"2018-03-26T21:33:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T01:33:33","slug":"counterprotesters-at-boston-common-defend-the-second-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=819","title":{"rendered":"Counterprotesters at Boston Common \u2018defend the Second Amendment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"article-header\">\n<p class=\"article-header__headline\">By Jacob Carozza<span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-header__byline-role\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">GLOBE CORRESPONDENT\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><time class=\"article-header__pubdate\" style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\" datetime=\"2018-03-24 23:23\">MARCH 24, 2018<\/time><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/players.brightcove.net\/245991542\/S1gRK0CLob_default\/index.html?videoId=5757659219001\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>As thousands marched through Boston Saturday to call for stricter gun control laws and an end to an epidemic of gun violence, several dozen counterprotesters rallied to oppose what they see as a push to limit individual freedoms and trample on constitutionally guaranteed gun rights.<\/p>\n<p>Organized online by the group Resist Marxism, the demonstration that gathered on Beacon Street in front of the State House around 11 a.m. and later continued onto Boston Common featured no organized speeches, but participants spoke passionately with each other and their opponents about defending gun rights from a movement they see as misguided and misinformed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarch for Our Lives has a lot of money behind them; they have a lot of politicians behind them,\u201d said Mark Sahady, 42, a demonstration organizer with Resist Marxism.<\/p>\n<p>The students involved in the march \u201care being used as pawns by the media and the political class,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-newsletter \" data-exact-target-id=\"20233035\" data-mailing-list-name=\"Fast Forward\" data-is-amp=\"\" data-section=\"\/metro\">\n<div class=\"inline-newsletter__copy\">\n<div class=\"inline-newsletter__title\">Get\u00a0<span class=\"inline-newsletter__bold\">Fast Forward<\/span>\u00a0in your inbox:<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-newsletter__description\">Forget yesterday&#8217;s news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Draped in an American flag, 53-year-old Bill Bachant of Lakeville said he fears that any move to tighten gun control laws could lead to a wider restriction of personal freedom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not going to stop at assault rifles; it\u2019s going to be everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ironic thing is I\u2019m here to preserve those people\u2019s rights to defend themselves and their family,\u201d Bachant said, as those opposed to the pro-gun rally chanted \u201cShame!\u201d and \u201cNo KKK, No Fascists-USA, No Trump,\u201d at the demonstrators.<\/p>\n<p>A line of Boston police officers with bicycles moved in to stand between the two sides. Around 11:30 a.m., the pro-gun demonstrators began moving into Boston Common, where many had gathered to join the March for Our Lives protest.<\/p>\n<p>Police surrounded the demonstrators as they moved through the Common. A group of people affiliated with the March for Our Lives, wearing pink vests and calling themselves \u201cpeacekeepers,\u201d formed a ring around the demonstration as it slowly inched forward.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the group Veterans for Peace also stood between the two sides.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to help maintain the peace. Both sides can get overheated, and we try to prevent that,\u201d said Jeff Brummer, 73, a member of Veterans for Peace who was holding one corner of a large white flag emblazoned with his group\u2019s name and a dove. \u201cClearly these anti-Marxist types are trying to provoke those around to attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrators stopped atop a hill at the center of the Common, where they were quickly outnumbered by gun control advocates.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd around the demonstrators grew even larger as marchers who had begun their day at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury arrived carrying signs that said \u201cHow many more?\u201d and \u201cThe time is now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though most of the pro-Second Amendment demonstrators were adults, a few teenagers were scattered throughout.<\/p>\n<p>T.J. McDonald, 17, a junior at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, said she came to the protest to proudly exclaim her opposition to gun control \u2014 a position that she says earns her ridicule from her classmates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of [the time in] high school, they say they\u2019re teaching you how to think, but they\u2019re teaching you what to think,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Moura, 24, a Resist Marxism spokesman from Stoughton, said the group had planned to move closer to the stage that March for Our Lives demonstrators had set up by Beacon Street, in an effort to \u201cmix with the crowd and have a civil debate about gun control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But rhetoric between the two sides became heated, with people hurling insults and curse words across the police barrier, and one demonstrator with a megaphone deriding the opposing side as \u201cviolent Commies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officers repeatedly asked the pro-gun demonstrators to leave the Common but did not order them out, Sahady said.<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrators began moving out of the Common shortly after 2:15 p.m., escorted by police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to keep arguing with the police for another two hours,\u201d Sahady said. \u201cThey feared people would get violent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrators marched to the State House steps, where their day had begun, but by then the group had dwindled to about two dozen.<\/p>\n<p>Still, organizers said they felt they had gotten their message across.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we definitely demonstrated that there\u2019s people in Boston who stand up for the Second Amendment,\u201d Sahady said.<\/p>\n<p>The group is in the beginning stages of planning another rally to oppose gun control on June 2, he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jacob Carozza can be reached at\u00a0<a class=\"a\" href=\"mailto:jacob.carozza@globe.com\">jacob.carozza@globe.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jacob Carozza\u00a0GLOBE CORRESPONDENT\u00a0\u00a0MARCH 24, 2018 As thousands marched through Boston Saturday to call for stricter gun control laws and an end to an epidemic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weapons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8VBh7-dd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":556,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=556","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":0},"title":"Invisible in any language: Mass. 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