Second Amendment supporters and gun owners are expected to stand together on the Old County Courthouse lawn Saturday morning. The Orange County Second Amendment Rally is being held to advocate for gun rights and create discussion within the community.
Rally organizers Ashley Campbell and Daniel Johnson are Orange County residents who were inspired to create the event due to a Facebook poll of local residents on gun rights.
Johnson says the purpose is to educate and spark more conversation between those who support gun rights and those who support gun reform.
“It’s just trying to show that those of us who are pro-Second Amendment, we’re not these militant groups people picture,” says Johnson. “We’re not this group of just NRA members.”
Campbell partnered with Johnson to help organize the event after initially learning about it. She shares his vision for the rally and its purpose.
“We want this to be a fun get-together,” says Campbell, “not anything intending to incite people or rabble-rouse necessarily, but more to be education and fun.”
The rally will feature an array of speakers. Multiple Republican candidates for North Carolina House seats will share their thoughts on the second amendment, as well as I’m The Majority activist Mark Keith Robinson. Other local advocates and Orange County residents will speak as well.
North Carolina has laws prohibiting the use or possession of firearms at rallies, and Orange County has regulations banning firearms from the courthouse grounds. But Campbell and the organizers have a solution for any attending gun-owners.
“In order to protest [that legislation], while still obeying the law,” says Campbell, “it’s going to be an empty-holster protest. That’s what it is called in the pro-Second Amendment community.”
The rally will even be giving out a prize to the attendee wearing the most empty holsters, as well as the attendee who traveled the farthest to attend Saturday’s event.
Johnson encourages people of all ideologies to attend but advises against anyone trying to disrupt the event.
“Do not come out trying to cause a problem,” he says, “because if you do, you will be asked to leave. This is a family-friendly event, and we’re just trying to show that all of us who are pro-gun are your neighbors. We’re not this entity that’s way out there.”
The Orange County Second Amendment Rally will be held at the Old County Courthouse in Hillsborough, from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Saturday.
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