Gun rights advocates, opponents square off at NY firearms show

Pro-gun activists and anti-gun activists hold duel their demonstrations outside the Arms Fair at the Saratoga Springs City Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. (REUTERS)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Thousands of gun rights advocates and gun-control supporters held dual demonstrations at a gun show in Saratoga Springs Saturday.

The Saratogian reports that gun-rights demonstrators waved flags and held placards in front of the building where the Saratoga Arms Fair was taking place.

A short distance away, activists from Saratogians for Gun Safety held wooden angel-shaped cutouts in memory of recent shooting victims.

Police said about a half-dozen extra officers were put on duty to maintain order. The 30-year-old arms fair has never required additional police presence before.

“Guns didn’t kill six million Jews, but their government did. Gun control made the Holocaust possible,” read one demonstrator’s poster, according to The Saratogian.

Another sign from the rival demonstration reportedly showed a girl firing a high-caliber machine gun with the message, "Number of U.S. gun deaths: 2 many."

Some city residents had called for the cancellation of the gun show after last month's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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