Protest held to decry Santos’ support of AR-15 bill

The sidewalk outside embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos’ Douglaston office in Queens on April 12 was crowded with furious constituents who clutched signs demanding he “Protect Kids Not Guns.”

Emotions ran high during the protest as mothers like Glen Head resident Ann Koch stood alongside Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son Scott Beigel was killed ushering students to safety at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida to escape a gunman who killed 17 in 2018. The protestors fear legislation to make the AR-15 the “National Gun of America,” backed by Santos, could lead to more violence and death. In February, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, a Republican from Alabama, introduced the controversial bill. 

After the protest, Koch recalled her time as a teacher at the North Shore School District’s high school in 2018. She was grading papers in the teacher’s workspace of the high school when a precautionary lockdown was initiated. She and her colleagues began to follow the lockdown procedure that required them to move away from the workspace’s door to avoid potential gunfire, and move to the other side of the room. Moments after lockdown was initiated, a student was seen in the hallway, and a teacher who recognized the student pulled her to the safety of the workspace. They then hurried to the side of the room as to not be in view of a potential intruder. Everyone remained calm during the deafening silence, which was only broken by occasional whispers of reassurance to the upperclassman. 

“It’s going to be fine, we’re here.” Koch recalls saying to the distressed students. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you.” 

Koch said that faculty was intently listening for footsteps outside the door during the 30 minutes of uncertainty. When administrators and police knew there was no immediate danger, the lockdown was lifted. Law enforcement identified the source of the threat as a Snapchat post. A picture of a message written on a school desk circulated on the popular app, reading, “I’m going to shoot up the school on March 5, Monday, at 12:27. Save yourself. Please stop me.” 

The lockdown was lifted at approximately 1 p.m. and normal activities resumed.

Other schools have faced a harsher reality when it comes to safety. So far into 2023, there have been 163 mass shootings. Eighty-nine were school shooting incidents. 

Standing in front of photos of her deceased son, Beigel Schulman asked protesters to look at the images to understand the impact the proposed gun legislation could have nationwide. 

“Making the AR-15 a national gun is more of a priority to George Santos than saving the lives of our children and our loved ones,” Schulman said. “Everyone knows the AR-15 is a weapon of war. Every school shooting is carried out with an AR 15. Almost every mass murder is carried out with an AR-15.”

In a February statement, Moore said he was protecting the Second Amendment rights of Americans, the right to bear arms against people who wanted to take away their firearms. He called it as important a right “as freedom of speech, religion and the press.”

In a February interview with ABC7’s Eyewitness News Extra Time, Santos defended Moore’s bill, calling on the AR-15 to be celebrated. 

“It’s more about recognition. This is a gun manufactured in the United States, creates jobs in the United States, it’s a made-in-America gun,” Santos said. “We have national everything, why not have a national gun? It saves lives on a daily basis, and it’s not reported. And I think it’s good to have that contrast.”

Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who won the 2022 primary for Congress, said that protesters weren’t looking to persuade George Santos since he has demonstrated he is morally unfit to be in Congress by endorsing the semi-automatic riffle. Zimmerman continued to say he believes Santos is complicit in the tragic death of so many children throughout the country who die at the hands of assault rifles.

“Santos is championing gun ownership which is not in the ethos of this district,” Paula Frome a Glen Cove resident, said. “His positions are so extreme at a time when there are weekly mass shootings. We can’t have somebody who thinks the AR-15 should be the national gun, that’s just disgraceful.”