Three gun-control activist groups plan to hold a vigil in on the Westside of Los Angeles Saturday night in the wake of a horrific mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that killed 26.
The Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles, Women Against Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence have organized the 5 p.m. event at the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood.
Organizers of "Vigil For Action" asked attendees to bring a candle. They asked supporters to contact President Obama and Congress and to sign a petition posted at wearebetterthanthis.org.
"Another day, another horrific shooting eating away at our collective peace of mind. ... We are better than this this," states the petition website. "We must work to make the voice of the American public heard. We all just want to live in a safer nation."
The local Saturday event comes as many events across the region and country at large Friday and Saturday focused on gun control following a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children, most of them 6 years old.
All victims died of multiple gunshot wounds, Connecticut's Chief Medical Examiner said Saturday. Those who died included six adults.
They were shot by Adam Lanza, 20, of Newtown, who killed himself at the scene. His motive remains a mystery.
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Other vigils were planned Saturday elsehwere in Southern California.
