A “March Against Weapons and Fear” is planned at 2 p.m. Saturday in downtown Akron.
The march, organized by the Rev. John Beaty and Robert Grow, both gun control advocates, will begin in front of the John F. Seiberling Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 2 S. Main St. Participants will walk south on Main Street, turn east onto Cedar Street and go north on High Street, ending at the Akron-Summit County Main Library at 60 S. High St.
The goal of the march is to protest laws that allow both the open and concealed carrying of weapons. It comes in the wake of several demonstrations in recent weeks by both open carry advocates and those who oppose open carry. In Ohio, adults are not required to have a license to openly carry guns.
In an email communication to the Beacon Journal, Grow of Fairlawn said he is helping to organize the peaceful march “because these are unjust laws that endanger the public and shove guns down people’s throat. The government is in bed with the gun industry and that has to change.” He invites all who oppose open or concealed carry to join the march.
Both Grow, a hospice chaplain, and Beaty, a retired United Methodist minister, have been involved in efforts to have gun shows removed from the Summit County Fairgrounds.
Beaty is a member of groups God Before Guns and Progressive Democrats Issue Team on Gun Violence. He has demonstrated against gun violence many times.
Grow has called concealed carry “vigilantism” and open carry a “legalized version of a terrorist threat.”