D.C. March Questions and Answers

Submitted by terri_stocke on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 12:51
 
 

 

The entire Second Amendment March rally will take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument, closest to the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 14th Street. 

 

If you are taking the Metro rail system, the two metro stations closest to the Washington Monument are the Federal Triangle station and the Smithsonian station.  Please see the D.C. Metro website for more information on using the bus and rail system, as well as maps and route planning tools.
 
Note for iPhone and Droid mobile device users:  There is a free app available for download that you may find useful while in D.C.  It is "DC Metro Transit Information", which allows you to pull up metro maps, find the nearest metro station to your location via your GPS, calculate fare, and get real-time information on the next trains and busses. 
 
It is scheduled to run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.
 
From the NPS website:

Parking throughout the District of Columbia is restricted generally (see individual area signs for site specific closures/restrictions) from 12:00 A.M. to 6:00 A.M. to facilitate cleaning and maintenance.

Washington, D.C. is a very busy metropolitan area. Parking is at a premium throughout the entire city. Private paid parking garages and lots can be found downtown north of the National Mall. Free on street parking is generally restricted to two hours (ticketing/towing enforced). Limited free day long parking is available along Ohio Drive, SW which is along the Potomac River south of the Lincoln Memorial or in Lots A, B & C south of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

It is highly recommended that you make use of the efficient public transit system (Metro rail and Metro bus) as well as Tourmobile, the official interpretive visitor transportation service for the National Mall and Memorial Parks. Information and schedules for Metro can be found at www.wmata.com. Information and schedules for Tourmobile may be found at www.tourmobile.com.

 

 

We are working with the National Park Service to identify the best parking locations for our disabled attendees.  As soon as we receive more information we will update this Q/A. 

 

Buses can use the current bus drop areas that are in the Memorial Core area. Those areas are as follows:

1. Ohio Drive, along the river, between Inlet Bridge and Independence Avenue.

2. Independence Avenue, south of the Washington Monument, between 15th Street & Survey Lodge.

3. Daniel French Drive, near the Lincoln Memorial

Other locations would include Union Station and JFK Stadium. Participants would have to take Metro from these locations.



 
Yes, you may exercise your right to free speech. 
 
Yes, you may bring chairs, blankets, etc.  
 
This is an unknown.  The National Park Service contracts with specific food vendors, and only those vendors may sell in that area.  There is no guarantee that these vendors will set up shop near our event that day.  However, those local to D.C. have told us that generally there is a vendor within a block of the park grounds.
 
Please remember that this is a park, so you are welcome to bring a picnic along with you!  The only stipulations are that you do not bring glass containers (per park rules) and we ask that you remember to take all trash with you when you leave.
 
 Yes.  There will be 10 portable restroom facilities on site, with 2 of those being handicap accessible.  These will be located on the north side of the Washington Monument grounds, off of Constitution Avenue, just east of the Jefferson Pier Marker (about halfway between 17th and 14th Streets).
 
We'll get wet. ;)  (Feel free to bring umbrellas and rain gear in case of inclement weather.)
 
NO.  Washington, D.C. does not allow carrying of firearms, concealed or otherwise.  In fact, some local to D.C. have told us that it is a felony just to have ammunition within the city.  Don't do it, don't test it.  We cannot stress this enough.
 
It is odd to see a large group of law-abiding citizens stripped of their second amendment right in the very seat of our federal government -- the one place that should know better than any other what those rights mean.
The D.C. gun laws are unconstitutional.  They convey the absurd idea that the second amendment applies to certain areas and not others.  These laws that punish the law-abiding citizens need to be changed -- but the way to do that is to reinforce the concept of the "law-abiding citizen" and work with other pro-2A organizations to enact change legally and peacefully.
 
Sure, we could have held Second Amendment March in a gun-friendly city.  But that would be like preaching to the choir, would it not?  What better place to bring gun owners out into the public eye than a city so fearful of firearms that the word "gun" has almost become a four-letter word?  We will go to D.C. as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, engineers, teachers, nurses, mechanics, programmers, etc. -- as a diverse group of Americans who are not afraid to voice their support for the second amendment.  And maybe...just maybe...we can break the stereotype that pro-2A people are camo-wearing, bandolier sporting commandos.
 
We don't know where this rumor started, but it seems that it has been perpetuated despite our very clear posting on our site that the carrying of unlawful firearms is not permitted.  These people may be confusing us with another group that is holding an armed rally in Virginia on the same day as Second Amendment March.  That group is a separate entity entirely and is not associated with the Second Amendment March event.
 
April 19th was chosen to commemorate the battles of Lexington and Concord, when British troops were dispatched to sieze and destroy military supplies being stored by the colonists.  This was one of the first displays of American spirit as the colonists united to defend their way of life.
 
We know that there has been much speculation about this date, for many reasons.  Some read into it, pointing to the fact that the battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War and that somehow we are sending a subtle message.  Others have (falsely) reported that it was chosen to honor a certain man who committed such despicable acts that we will not even honor him here by typing his name.  We have no desire or intent to honor monsters and cowards such as he. 
 
The various accusations we have heard couldn't be further from the truth, but people will believe what they want to believe and nothing we do or say will ever change that.
 
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