Hundreds of gun owners, including some reportedly armed with pistols and rifles, stood outside of the Capitol on Saturday to rally in support of gun rights.
The event, sponsored by Connecticut Citizens Defense League, was one of dozens of rallies held on "Gun Appreciation Day," a nationwide response to calls for tighter gun control.
Saturday's rally in Hartford was attended by Durham residents Stuart Keating (see photos) and Lisa Davenport, and included several speakers.
"This is in response to the attacks and the assault on the Second Amendment. People want to let our voices be heard out here before our rights are robbed from us, so this is entirely appropriate, especially with what we're facing," Scott Wilson, president of the organization, told the crowd according to the Hartford Courant.
Wilson's comments eluded to criticism over the decision to hold the rally just over a month since Adam Lanza killed 26 students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
But many at the rally wore ribbons for the victims of the mass shooting, according to WTNH.
Davenport told therepublic.com, "I am the wife of a first responder, and a mother," while carrying a sign that read Mom, wife, patriot, Christian, I own guns.
"Unfortunately gun owners are becoming demonized. We aren't bad, insensitive, radical people. We're moms, dads, white collar, blue collar, neighbors, and more. It was important for me to illustrate the average American who is a gun owner," she told Patch.
