WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- Gun-rights activists gathered in Washington Monday for a "Second Amendment March" supporting the right to keep and bear arms, observers said.
The protesters marched unarmed, since the carrying of firearms or ammunition is prohibited in the District of Columbia, The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported.
Outside of the district, at a rally in Fort Hunt, Va., many demonstrators openly carried guns, intending to make history as the first people to rally with firearms in a national park, The Washington Post reported.
Organizers of the Washington event called the Second Amendment "the one constitutional amendment that protects all others," hailing themselves as "defenders of freedom." In a rally in Richmond last week, about 100 gun-rights advocates, many bearing arms, gathered in the state capital, the Times-Dispatch said.
"If I didn't have my Second Amendment right, you wouldn't have your First Amendment rights," gun-toting Richmond resident Jim Hollar said.
Under a law enacted by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama it became legal in February to carry loaded firearms in U.S. national parks.
