Sharpton’s King Day Forum Focuses on Gun Violence - NYTimes.com

Sharpton’s King Day Forum Focuses on Gun Violence - NYTimes.com: Of the many events on Monday honoring the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the gathering held by the Rev. Al Sharpton in Harlem was one with a wide audience and a narrow focus: the toll of gun violence, from a parking lot in Tucson to the streets of New York.

Senator Charles E. Schumer said that no constitutional amendment was sacrosanct and that “there’s nothing wrong in putting reasonable limits on guns.”

Alluding to the concern over the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 other people this month in Tucson, State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said, “Sometimes it takes something big and dramatic to get
people’s attention.”

Former Mayor David N. Dinkins remarked, “It is absolutely ridiculous that any idiot can get a gun and kill people.”

But it was the host of the gathering who brought the message about gun control, wishful as it was, closest to home.