Amid the sound of cars rushing past, water splashing in a nearby fountain and people chatting on the sidewalk, a chime was barely audible.
It rang 26 times, once for each life lost in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. It was the same chime that rang 59 times just over a month ago for the victims of the Las Vegas Strip shooting.
Tuesday evening, 10 people gathered outside Gainesville City Hall to remember the 26 victims who were killed by a gunman who opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in Texas. With candles in hand, attendees, some dressed in black, bowed their heads in silence as the chime rang out. The vigil was organized by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
“We always say ‘not one more,’ and there’s always one more,” said Jenna Preble, head of the Gainesville chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
City Commissioner Helen Warren was the only member of the City Commission in attendance.
Dari Smith, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, arrived at the vigil toting her own candle. She spent Tuesday evening mourning the loss of the Texas churchgoers, but Wednesday she will meet with state senators and advocate for common sense gun control laws in Tallahassee, she said.
Smith said she feels that current gun laws are too lenient and allow individuals with mental illness or a criminal background access to guns. Smith also said there should be more restrictions on the types of weapons people are permitted to buy.
“The type of guns that people are able to purchase, I think, are very harmful with a purpose only to kill,” the 56-year-old said.
Despite the increasing frequency of mass shootings in America, Smith said she will continue to honor the lost lives.
“I think it’s important that we don’t become desensitized to killings that have become so common,” she said.
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Dari Smith and Wes Wheeler hold candles as Catherine Cake hits a chime 26 times to remember the victims of Sunday’s shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
