Armed protesters show up to counter Indianapolis gun control rally

A group participating in the "National Day to Demand Action" to end gun violence in Indianapolis this morning faced a counter-protest from gun rights advocates, who brought their loaded firearms with them.

The group Moms Demand Action held the rally outside the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday to call for an assault weapons ban, restrictions on magazine sizes, and an end to the so-called gun show loophole. A member of the organization told Think Progress she was unsettled by the presence of armed counter-protesters, who were from a group calling itself Indiana Moms Against Gun Control.

The National Day to Demand Action was organized by the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The event coincided with the release of a television ad featuring family members of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School last year.

"Whether the gun violence happens in urban Chicago, suburban Virginia, or rural Texas, we must act now on new and stronger gun laws to protect our children," Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement. "The conversation about gun violence in America has been controlled for too long by those who stand to profit from easy access to guns. In the meantime, American families continue to be destroyed by gun violence. Mothers have had enough, and we will no longer stand by and let Congress turn its back on sensible gun laws"

It was not the first time armed protesters showed up at the Indiana Statehouse. In February, hundreds of gun advocates demonstrated at the Capital against new gun laws. Many of them came armed.

Moms Demand Action and Indiana Moms Against Gun Control also faced off at the Indiana Statehouse earlier this month.

Watch video, courtesy of WTHR.com, below:

13 WTHR Indianapolis

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[Man holding rifle via Shutterstock]