Hundreds Protest Outside Zeldin's Office, Demand Action On Guns

PATCHOGUE, NY — Carrying an array of bright signs that said, "Hey, hey, NRA, how many kids did you kill today?" and "Lee Zeldin, Why are you taking blood money from the NRA?" a crowd of more than 400 rallied outside the Patchogue office Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Shirley, Tuesday, demanding that he put the safety of his constituents first.

Those assembled asked that Zeldin stop "selling our lives to the NRA and corporate lobbyists" and "acting to impede the Russia investigation," according to organizers.

The group was the largest anti-Zeldin rally held to date, hosted by a coalition of Long Island activist groups.

After 17 people were shot and killed and numerous others injured when a former student opened fire in a horrific act of mass violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Zeldin spoke out on what he believes needs to be done.

Zeldin issued a statement calling for a Congressional hearing and action after law enforcement was unable to identify the "indicators and threat" posed by Nikolas Cruz before the Parkland High School mass shooting on Feb. 14.

"This tragedy could have and should have been prevented," Zeldin said. "The warning signs were there and clearly pointed to the fact this young man was extremely troubled."

Zeldin's rep responded to the rally: "The congressman always welcomes productive and substantive input from all of his constituents. That allegation is repugnant. The Congressman has always worked to best serve the constituents of NY-1."

Zeldin has co-sponsored House legislation that would allow holders of concealed-firearm permits the right to carry their guns anywhere in the country. That bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December and now awaits action from the Senate.

Those rallying condemned Zeldin’s co-sponsoring of H.R. 38, known as “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” bill.

"HR 38 would require states to recognize the weakest laws governing the possession of concealed firearms in public. With such overwhelming public support for common sense gun control, rally-goers believe it is inexcusable that Rep. Zeldin is fighting to make gun laws more lax," organizers said in a release.

And, in regard to foreign threats, rally-goers argued that the “#CoverUpCaucus” is "obstructing the Russia investigation by sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the investigation, hampering the bipartisan legislation to protect the special counsel from firing by Trump, and deflecting attention from the visible threats Trump poses to American democracy. With 13+ related indictments from the special counsel, Rep. Zeldin’s failure to take the threat of Russia seriously has already put our nation in danger. We deserve to know who our president is working for, because he certainly isn’t working for us," organizers said.

Similar events are unfolding across the nations during the week following Presidents' Day, "at which concerned citizens will gather to demand that their congressional representatives stop fighting to protect Donald Trump from this criminal investigation and start putting our safety first," the release said.

“We have a reached a point where Rep. Zeldin’s failure to keep us safe from preventable threats amounts to a dereliction of duty,” said Mara Gerstein, rally organizer. “By attacking the Russia investigation, Zeldin is defying his oath of office to 'protect and defend the constitution.' His support for loosening gun safety laws at the height of a gun violence epidemic is only understandable in light of the financial support he receives from the gun industry.”

At the event, Gerstein spoke to the crowd: "I’m Mara. I’m a mom, a lifelong New Yorker and a constituent of Lee Zeldin. And I’m here to tell my representative, and everyone who will listen, that as of this week, I am a single issue voter," she said. "I only vote for people who will take basic steps to protect me and my family from preventable threats — both foreign and domestic. I am here to tell Rep. Zeldin that if he cannot fight for the most basic measures to keep our children safe from gun violence. If he cannot fight for our country to defend itself from information and cyber warfare, then he is worse than useless to any of us.

"Trump, Zeldin and men like them," Gerstein continued, "run on law and order, borders, security, building up our military, keeping us safe. And here we are: 100 of us dying daily from gun violence, another day, another school shooting. Another 15, 20, 50 young lives lost. There is not a parent in this country who wasn’t afraid to send their children to school this week. There wasn’t a kid over the age of five in America who didn’t sit in their classrooms this week afraid that maybe they were next. What is this? Why do we have to live like this?"

She asked why Zeldin is working to make gun laws "more lax," discussing the "concealed carry reciprocity bill," which, she said, would mean that all states would be forced to accept "the lowest gun safety standards in the country. And no one is talking about it."

Zeldin, after the shooting, said he believes it is critical that Congress, law enforcement and the American public "identify how Nikolas Cruz slipped through the cracks. We must prevent another such breakdown."

Zeldin added: "I support law-abiding citizens having the ability to possess firearms to protect themselves, their families, their loved ones and property. However, we must ensure lunatics manifest in violent criminal intentions to murder with firearms have access to none."

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform or the Committee on the Judiciary are two of the Committees that could consider initiating the hearing, Zeldin suggested.

Zeldin, who has an A rating from the NRA and received the third most money from the organization among all members of Congress during the 2016 election cycle, is fighting to make gun laws more lax, protestors said Tuesday.

"Zeldin is backed by the NRA and one of their most trusted advocates," an event posting for the rally on Facebook read. "He needs to stop selling our safety to the highest bidder."

Photos courtesy Mara Gerstein.

Video courtesy Fully Involved Media Group (@FullyInvMedia)