Starting with a prayer of lamentation at St. Mark’s, hundreds of marchers passed through the heart of Capitol Hill Saturday night to protest gun violence and call on leaders to act in the wake of December’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

With “Arms are for hugging” signs, the candlelight marchers passed down Broadway with a phalanx of SPD officers clearing the busy street to move the procession through as it made its way through First Hill to St. Jame’s for further prayer and reflection.

As city officials consider leading the way in reforming the state’s gun laws, Seattle launched its first gun buyback program since 1992 in January. 712 guns were traded in before SPD had handed out all of the gift cards it had available. Proponents of the buybacks say that even if the programs don’t make a measurable impact in area gun crime, like Saturday’s march, they are an important driver of attention and public awareness.

Reader Tom share this information about contributing to the program if you’d like to see another buyback held:

So, the last gun buy back apparently ran out of money long before folks ran out of guns and shoulder fire anti-aircraft weapons that they wanted to turn in and get off the streets.  Afterwards, I wondered if I could contribute money to the next gun buy back and found out that I can.  Maybe you guys wanna get the word out to other readers.

Apparently, you can make contributions via the following link or by sending a check to the following address. If you send a check please make sure to note that it is for the gun buyback. 

http://seattlepolicefoundation.org/seattle-gun-safety-initiative/

Seattle Police Foundation

PO Box 456

Seattle, WA 98111-0456.