Several dozen people gathered at a busy intersection in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood Thursday evening to demand action against gun violence in America. The protest came just over a week after a gunman opened fire in a Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing two children and injuring nearly 20 others as they prayed in church pews. For many of the demonstrators, the shooting was another painful reminder of the growing crisis that has left countless families shattered.
“Today, we stand here with one message: protect our kids, not the gun industry,” declared Beth Foringer, a regional coordinator for CeaseFirePA, one of the groups that organized the event. Foringer, a mother of two, said she was tired of leaders offering only “thoughts and prayers” after tragedies. Her own activism began years earlier, when she heard a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting describe how she learned to duck from bullets before learning to read. That testimony, Foringer said, changed her life.
Others echoed her urgency. Community organizer and graduate student Ally Fedor said she wanted to prove her commitment by showing up. “I work directly with teens, and one of the things we do is talk about preventing gun violence. So, I like to put my money where my mouth is,” Fedor explained. She recalled how a Zoom meeting she attended abruptly ended when the Minneapolis shooting broke in the news, a jarring reminder of how common such tragedies have become. “This happens all the time,” she said.
By the time the protest began around 6 p.m., the corners of Murray and Forbes avenues were crowded with people holding handwritten signs that read messages like “Policy and action, NOT thoughts and prayers” and “Disarm hate.” Passing cars honked in support as chants filled the air. Later, the crowd moved to Sixth Presbyterian Church, where speakers shared deeply personal stories of loss and resilience.
One of the most emotional moments came from high school senior Calise Cowans, who read a poem about her father, who was shot and killed in his car earlier this year while her baby brother sat nearby. She compared her father to a Monarch butterfly, a symbol of beauty and fragility. Another speaker, Tracy Baton of the group Indivisible, told the audience that lawmakers must step up to create a safer society for future generations, insisting that “change is overdue.”
The call for urgent reform was echoed by Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie, who is running for Congress in the Democratic primary against Rep. Summer Lee. As both a parent and a teacher, Forgie said he has felt the toll of gun violence for decades. “I’ve lost 21 students over 24 years to gun violence,” he said. “It’s time to demand real change.”
For some protesters, participation was as much about personal hope as it was about political demands. Denice Galpern, 70, of Point Breeze, has been attending protests for more than 40 years. Her activism began with anti-nuclear demonstrations in the 1970s, but gun violence strikes especially close to her heart. Her grandchildren live in Colorado, not far from Columbine High School, where two shooters killed 18 students and a teacher in 1999. “I think people need to know that others are thinking about this,” Galpern said. “With all of these horrible things that are happening, we have to be hopeful. And I think this is one way to share hope.”
The Squirrel Hill protest was more than just an evening gathering; it was a public statement that ordinary people refuse to accept gun violence as normal. From grieving students to lifelong activists, from parents to politicians, each voice added to a growing demand for action. Their collective message was clear: America must choose to protect its children rather than its guns.
