i am here to ask congress to be sure that guns do not get into the hands of dangerous people like the one who killed my family members. thank you. >> pamela bosley. >> i'm here to introduce you to my son murdered in chicago. this is my son, terrell. 9 my son, terrell bosley, who was 18, was murdered on april 4th, 2006, his friends, he helped his friend bring drums in a church. he was on safe grounds and someone took his life. he was an awesome son who loved his family. he was a gospel bass player. who had the opportunity to play for so many great artists. one of his dreams was to be a famous gospel bass player and travel around the world. this was ended when somebody was shooting and had a .45 illegal caliber gun and shot my son. his death devastated my family and my youngest son prays every day that nobody gets shot. there is not a day that goes by

that i do not miss and think about my son, terrell. even though it has been six years, the terrible pain remains the same. no mother should ever have to bury their son. i am demanding congress to get the guns out of the hands of the people who should not have them and bring justice to my son, terrell. sherialyn birdsong. >> this is my husband, rickey birdsong who for 19 years was a division one basketball coach. his last place of coaching was at northwestern university. we met when we were 16 years old and for 27 years we experienced the american dream. then on july 2nd, 1999, our

american dream became the american nightmare. rickey was gunned down in cold blood while he was jogging with our two youngest children ages 8 and 10 in our quiet neighborhood in illinois outside of chicago. i lost my husband and best friend, my three children lost a great father. rickey had been head basketball coach at northwestern and he had written a book about coaching your kids to be winners in the game of life. after coaching he committed his life to developing communities. he was devoted to his family and his faith and the world and my family lost a great man that day all because of a dangerous man who never should have had a gun. ricky's killer was a neo-nazi with a violent past. 9 he didn't just kill ricky. he went on a shoot iing spree throughout illinois and indiana

that weekend shooting at 29 killing, wounding nine and killing two. jews, asians, african americans, anyone whose race was different from his. how could this happen? this neo-nazi was not allowed to have a gun because he was subjected to a domestic violence restraining order. he went into a gun store and was turned down because he failed a background check but he found an unlicensed gun seller in the classified ads and that's how he bought his guns. because this seller was unlicensed he was not required to do a background check. no father anywhere on this planet much less in america should be gunned down in front of his children. it's inhumane. why won't congress close this loop hole? i learned as a child that the love of money is the root of all

evil. it is a sin and a shame that greed and money drives our laws instead of consciousness and common sense. i'm here today to call on congress to act now to pass common sense gun laws to keep guns away from dangerous people. >> we are going to ask congress, should the man who shot rickey birdsong be able to buy a gun anywhere in our country legally? david carriens. >> i am here to honor the memory of angela dales, the mother of our oldest grandchild who was shot and killed in the first school shooting here in virginia, the appalachian school

of law on january 16, 2002, when three people were gunned down and three people were murdered. unfortunately, in the state of virginia and i'm going to be addressing virginia because we have an enormous problem, we continue to live under the shadows of bipartisan deceit enrichment. many politicians in richmond have fallen prey to their political agendas and fear of the national rifle association and have willingly opted to confuse and cover up these tragedies. the governor's review panel report on the shooting at virginia tech is an example of this cover up. and i have documentation with me if any of you would like it. the state of virginia paid to the victims $100,000 for their dead children and their dead spouses and paid over three quarters of a million dollars to a firm that does business with the state of virginia to write a report that covers it up.

that is a conflict of interest by anybody's definition. the report was written to prevent anyone from being held accountable for his or her actions or inactions. we will come here every day if it will help wake up politicians to their responsibilities to keep guns out of the hands of those who are violent and are a danger to themselves and others. we are here to honor not only the people we have lost but all of the victims of school shootings, those who have been wounded and those who are psychologically scarred by these tragedies. lisa delity. she's not here.

sorry. mindy finkelstein. >> good afternoon. almost 13 years ago i was a camp counselor at the north valley county jewish center when a convicted felon tried to kill me. i was 16 years old at the time but i was lucky because buford furrow failed that day. and for the last 13 years i have tried to lend my voice to this cause telling members of congress there is no reason he should have had that gun. for 13 years i have been brushed aside. no one seems to think that this conversation is worth having. you can't ignore us today. look me in the eye and tell me there is nothing any of us could do to prevent a convicted felon to walk in and gun down innocent children. you are wrong. you are dead wrong.

this past year my friend brian kaplan was shot and killed in his friend's garage in the same neighborhood where i was shot 13 years ago. he was 32 years old. he is a 2 1/2-year-old daughter and his wife was pregnant with twins. the pain that i have that my friend was taken away from a gun an assault rifle, mind you, is too much to handle. i promise myself i will not let anymore of my friends be killed. now i not just speak because of what happened to me 13 years ago, but i speak on behalf of brian's three children who will grow up without a father. for them, myself and for all of us here today whose voices are silenced please help us make sure no one else has to suffer tragedies like any of us have had to suffer. thank you very much. >> andrew goddard. >> good afternoon. my name is andrew goddard. you have heard from my son. i'm looking at my watch. i know what i was doing five years ago today at almost this exact moment.

i was on the telephone with a surgeon discussing my son's injuries trying to keep it together for the rest of my family. nine months after i suffered that loss -- or that injury to our family, i went to the virginia general assembly to see what was going to be done to change things in virginia. imagine my surprise when everyone seemed to tell me now is not the time to talk about such a thing. nine months after 32 people were killed in virginia, it wasn't the time to talk about it. imagine my disgust when i realized it was the time to talk about a bill to return gun rights to people with mental illness and had said they were now recovered from it. while you can't do anything to stop someone who is mentally in problems and having difficulties with his life you can't stop him from getting a gun but we should be concentrating on allowing people who have gotten past that point to get guns again.

i have been back there every year since, and every year it's not the time. it's not the time to talk about strengthening gun laws but, miraculously, it ises the time to talk about weakening them. and now after this many years i say enough is enough. we are going to do something about strengthening gun laws. thank you. >> lori haas. >> good afternoon, my name is laurie haas. my daughter emily was shot twice in the back of her head five years ago today. as difficult as it is for me to stand here today i can only think of the pain and the horror and the sadness and the utter devastation to those 32 families that morning and 32 families every day because dangerous people continue to have access, easy access wherever they want whenever they want to weapons.

but i'm here to challenge and suggest that we can fix this problem. a background check is a matter of moments. we have the technology. we have the means. we have the matter and we have the determination. we are going to see fit that our representatives and our legislators hear our voice and understand that we need to do what it takes to do a background check on every firearm purchaser and do what it takes to get the records, disqualifiers and records into the background check system so that cho can no longer buy a firearm. i suspect today somewhere in one of your home towns, one of your neighborhoods, your neighbor, your friend, your colleague, your child, your uncle, your aunt, is being murdered and gunned down by somebody who had easy access to a gun because they didn't

undergo a background check and because they are disqualified whether a felony conviction, mental health conviction, drug abuse or the other six disqualifiers, those records weren't in the system. we can fix it and i am determined to help to do that. thank you. >> lori invited ed me to come with her. i'm a 33rd family member of gun violence. my daughter mary was also shot in the french class at virginia tech. she did not survive and we have 32 students and faculty members and brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers who are not with us today, several of us spent this past weekend at virginia tech memorializing them.

their lives and their enormous contributions. it heartens us that the survivors are able to move forward in their lives. it heartens us that we are represented on the campus by scholarships, memorial funds and any number of great remembrances but the fact remains that in all of our families there are holes shaped like our loved ones that will never be filled and that's true of every single person here. that's true of every single family of the 32 people who every day as you have just heard are shot to death in this country. this should not happen. and as you have also heard repeatedly today the question is if not us, who? if not now, when? the courts have repeatedly deferred to the congress and the state legislatures to do the right thing and the proper regulation of public safety to include issues related to gun

violence but in far too many cases our state legislators, state executives and the congress have avoided making those hard choices. here in virginia or i should say across the river in virginia our own governor, governor mcdonnell heard our pleas not to allow the repeal of our one gun a month law which is common sense legislation that has existed for over or almost 20 years and the commonwealth and then allowed that bill to become law. in spite of our pleas. in our case, this piece of legislation slowed the shooters plans. it didn't stop them but had they worked as part of a seamless web of common sense gun legislation to include incorporating the background checks for those

adjudicated mentally ill, it would have probably succeeded in preventing the shooter from getting the firearms he used. now, i'm proud to say that virginia now leads the nation in inserting mental health records into the national instant check system but there is so much further to go and so in the name of mary and in the name of reama, and in the name of every one whose families are here representing those lives that were snuffed out by gun violence, i plead with our members of congress, do the right thing. don't support legislation that increases the availability of firearms to people who shouldn't have them and do what's in your power to make sure that those firearms don't get into the hands of the people who shouldn't have them. thank you. >> i understand christine is here. no. christine cologne?

christine? no. she's here. there you are. >> sorry. >> hi. my name is christina cologne. i'm here with my husband, a retired milwaukee police officer. on april 11th, 2009 his career e ended as a milwaukee police officer when he nearly lost his life in the line of duty from a .9 millimeter firearm at the hands of a nine-time felon, parolee, who had only been out of prison for six months. the firearm was purchased at a gas station out of the trunk of the car by his girlfriend. a dispatch call for a subject with a gun resulted in a foot pursuit that turned into a gun battle after the criminal displayed his firearm and began firing at fidel less than seven feet away. after fidel was shot, he returned fire until he stopped the criminal.

fidel was shot three times and only one bullet exited. a nine time felon parolee nearly took his life. vice president biden and attorney general holder awarded him the medal of valor which is the highest honor given to public safety officers for exhibiting exceptional courage in saving and protecting others whose heroic actions were above and beyond the call of duty. fidel and i are here on behalf of all law enforcement officers shot or killed in the line of duty, their families, and their loved ones to demand that our elected representatives do all they can to keep dangerous people from obtaining guns. to all of those lost or injured officers who are shot in the line of duty you will never be forgotten. thank you.

>> let's challenge our leaders who distribute medals of valor for heroism to be heroism they can selves and stand up to the gun lobby. sign this statement of principle against arming dangerous people. reject the george zimmerman armed vigilante act. is christian here? i didn't see him before. no. okay. kaitlin hinckley. >> five years ago my mother and sister went to buy my siblings and myself valentine cards at a mall in salt lake city, utah. they were gunned down by a mentally ill 18-year-old who should not have had the gun that he purchased. my sweet baby sister was killed and my mother will forever suffer from the multiple gunshot

wounds she inflicted. when it all happened it was all over the news. our pain and grieving was broadcast and everyone in the community was hurting. they felt the pain, the fear and the traumatic loss and wanted to know what was happening because they felt like they were a part of it. everyone can tell you where they were when it happened. but when the time came to move on they were able to turn off their tvs, put down their newspapers and go back to their daily lives knowing that their children were tucked safely in their beds but our families can't. we live this nightmare every day. we live with the pain and loss of our children, siblings, close friends and family members. we live with the fear that unless our laws change dangerous people will be able to get hold of illegal firearms and put other innocent people through this intolerable pain of

forever wondering who our lost loved ones would be today. for the last five years i constantly wondered who my sister would be today. i wonder what she would look like, what she would be doing and what of her many ambitious goals she would have been able to achieve had her life not ended at 15 at the hands of someone who should never have been able to obtain the weapon that ended her life. kiesten has missed so much that she should have been here for, most recently her high school graduation and my wedding. i watch as my mother deteriorates before my eyes knowing there is nothing i can do for her. she will never get better. she will never heal. i live in fear for her and her future and for the future of my kids that i want to someday have. it is far too easy for these

dangerous firearms to get into the hands of the wrong people. gun dealers are not being held accountable. congress is not being held accountable for these weapons being sold. we stand before you today asking you to remember what we can never forget to say enough is enough and to demand a change so this does not continue to happen. so far as i understand john boehner won't meet with us. is that right still? i ask after you hear that is it time now, john boehner, to start talking about this issue? is it time to start talking about what we can do to keep the guns out of the people responsible to these tragedies that you are hearing about?

nardyne jeffries. >> good afternoon. i'm nardyne jeffries. my daughter was one of the three young people murdered march 30th, 2010, on south capital street. there was nine people shot with multiple weapons. i'm not going to dwell too much on the case because we are still in the trial proceedings right now. the point is i'm here to support and will be here to support any and every time that i need it to support because guns in the wrong hands is not a pretty sight. my daughter was shot in the head with an ak-47, head blown wide open. and it's hard to talk now because just listening to the stories and knowing what you are going through i definitely can relate to the young lady that just spoke saying her mother is

deteriorating. my father died due to bladder cancer. couldn't get out of bed for six months. when he got up, he was diagnosed with cancer and just didn't have the will to live any longer. we need to be a more conscious society. and i think it's just very selfish of the gun shops and gun manufacturers to take the attitude that, well, we, you know, we're only making guns for, you know, whatever the purpose that they're claiming to make the guns for. it's not my fault that, you know, innocent people have been gunned down with the guns that i have manufactured and have put into my gun shops. and it is your responsibility to be more responsible. you can't think that, you know, manufacturing deadly weapons, you have no responsibility there.

you do. and i just want to say to all the elected officials, you know, that you need to stop thinking in that selfish manner that i guess because it hasn't happened to you, that you feel like you're, you know, oblivious to it. and you're so distant from it. but you're not. anyone can get a weapon. as abby made a statement from these gun protests that you can get a gun as easy as purchasing a candy bar, and she's absolutely right. you can buy a gun from craigslist, on the internet, some walmart stores, a trunk of a car, anywhere. and for you to have the attitude that, you know, well, i live in a certain neighborhood or i -- you know, you're not safe. the bottom line is, you're not safe. my only child is now gone. i don't know what it's going to be like to be a grandmother because i will never have any grandchildren. i won't know what it's like to visit my daughter in college because she didn't make it that summer. she was killed that spring.

you know, all of her friends have now gone off to college. and they're moving along as best they can. but, you know, people that take lives and innocent people, they don't realize the effects that the devastation they leave behind. it's not just the victims whose lives you've taken and their families whose lives, you know, you've forever changed. but you have to think about, you know, in my case or a lot of cases, the pediatricians. you know, it's hard for all of those relationships that have been established with those victims, people now have lost. and that void is never going to be filled again. so i'm definitely here to go along with the rest of the families to see these senators and let them know that, you know, enough has been enough many years ago. i'm not going to sit back and tolerate, you know, any more mothers and parents, siblings and young people, old people, middle-aged people being gunned down. it makes no sense. this is supposed to be a civilized nation.

let's start acting like it. representatives, let's get on board. let's stop being, you know, so quick to make the almighty dollar. you know, you can always -- money is going to be there. you can't replace human lives. i can't buy another daughter. no more than anyone else can buy another sister or father or whatever, you know, relationship you have with that loved one. don't be so selfish. you know. and be more respectful. so we're going to go over there. and we're going to get in the faces of these politicians. and we're going to let them know, guns in the wrong hands is very, very deadly. and it makes absolutely no sense. and we're not going away once the cameras leave. we're not going away when the office is closed. we'll come back and we'll keep coming back just like we've been doing for years and many years to come. and we'll keep coming back. and we're going to have more people because unfortunately, until they get it, we're going to have more casualties. thank you.

>> william kellibrew. >> july 2nd, 1984, i helplessly watched at the age of 10 as my mother, jacqueline kellibrew, and my 12-year-old brother, anthony cefus, was shot point blank in their faces right in front of me. he then came to me, and he put the gun to my head. and he had me beg for my life. as i put my hands together and begged him, please don't kill me. please don't kill me. i'll do anything. it didn't go anywhere. after i pleaded to god, please, don't let him kill me, marshall brett williams who had served an 11 1/2-year sentence for second-degree murder on the marine base at quantico, virginia, then stood up and

walked around the room. he let me go that day but without my leader, without my protector, without the person that i would have grown up with to lead me and guide me through this life. and at the age of 13, i wanted to take my own life because it was unbearable. but i've come from that room, that room at 10 years old to this hill to let congress know that guns in the hands of people like marshall brent williams, guns in the hands of people like george zimmerman do not belong. please, i'm coming from that room to plead with you, to beg and to demand and to ask you, please reject the george zimmerman vigilante act. and please sign this statement of principle. stand with us, us 32 here today, and the 32 victims who lost their lives at virginia tech years ago.

stand with us today to make a difference and all communities across america, please stand with us. it's senseless violence. and with this kind of legislation, this model legislation, it's unspeakable, and it's deadly as nardyne jeffries said. we've got to do something about it. and today we plan to do something about it. thank you very much. >> dayna klein. >> good afternoon. my name is dayna klein. i'm here today to honor my friend, pamela wechter, a very blessed memory who died in the shooting that permanently disabled me. after i took a bullet in the arm to try and protect my then 17-week-long pregnancy on july 28th, 2006, in seattle, washington.