Burdick, Hales, other gun control advocates rally at Portland City Hall | OregonLive.com
One hundred people? That's not very many considering it is pretty close to the majority of people in the state who support them and its on a weekend. Maybe people are smart enough not to want to listen to Burdick and Hales speak.
McGoodwin sounds like someone who expects the government to provide services to constantly protect him and trample people's rights if he doesn't agree with them.
About 100 people showed up at Portland City Hall on a brisk Saturday morning, waving signs calling for a ban on assault rifles and an end to gun violence.
A small knot of pro-gun activists showed as well, to protest the protest. They stayed on the sidewalk near the front entrance to City Hall. Some had joined a rally in favor of gun rights at the Capitol on Friday.One person openly carried a loaded long-arm to this rally.
"Why I own it is much different than what I use it for. I own it because I truly believe that firepower should be in the hands of the populace, not just the government and police," said Paul Pawlowski, 34, of Portland.
And yes, his gun was strictly for show. "It's 14 lbs. and rather impractical to carry every day," he said.
A disgusted Jim McGoodwin told Pawlowski he found his conduct abhorrent. McGoodwin, 88, came loaded with several handmade signs of a hand-drawn handgun slashed with a diagonal.
"The government's gotta take a hand in this thing because the government is not protecting us from thugs," he said, referring to Pawlowski.
McGoodwin then looked at two women with signs upholding the Second Amendment and said, "Or these two, a couple of constitutional lawyers here."
One hundred people? That's not very many considering it is pretty close to the majority of people in the state who support them and its on a weekend. Maybe people are smart enough not to want to listen to Burdick and Hales speak.
McGoodwin sounds like someone who expects the government to provide services to constantly protect him and trample people's rights if he doesn't agree with them.