Jackson, in Aurora, urges assault-arms ban

The Rev. Jesse Jackson visits a temporary memorial across the street from the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo, where 12 were killed during a midnight movie. He rejected the notion that now is not the time to debate gun control.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson visits a temporary memorial across the street from the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo, where 12 were killed during a midnight movie. He rejected the notion that now is not the time to debate gun control. (ED ANDRIESKI / Associated Press)
Posted: July 28, 2012

AURORA, Colo. - The Rev. Jesse Jackson, visiting Aurora to meet with theater shooting victims, renewed his call for a ban on assault weapons.

The civil rights leader, who also visited the apartment building of accused killer James Holmes, said Thursday that it should not be legal for people to be able to arm themselves more heavily than police.

He dismissed arguments that debating gun control wrongly makes the tragedy political. He said it's time to go from "mourning to marching" to address gun violence. Even people legally carrying concealed weapons would not have a chance against a shooter armed with a semi-automatic weapon, he said.

Jackson also met with the family of Alex Sullivan, who was killed in the theater shooting. He joined family members at a memorial across from the Century 16 movie theater, the scene of the mayhem July 20.

The family had a private funeral for Sullivan, who was known as a gentle man with a glowing smile.

Services were also held in Denver on Thursday for Micayla Medek, 23.

Mourners wore pink ribbons, some with Hello Kitty faces on them, in honor of her fondness for the color and the character.

Her young cousin, Kailyn Vigil, sobbed and some family members had to be supported as Medek's coffin was placed in the hearse.

Medek attended Aurora Community College and worked at a Subway sandwich shop. Family members described her as loving and independent-minded.

Another victim, Alex Teves, was cremated this week, as his father, Tom, remembered him as having a "heart of gold" and a gift for defusing tense situations.

Teves, who grew up in Phoenix and graduated from an Arizona high school and college, died while shielding his girlfriend from the gunfire. Tom Teves said his wife did not get a chance to say goodbye before their son was cremated because he didn't want her to see the badly wounded body.

"He was one of the kindest kids who always gave of himself," he told the Arizona Republic. "You won't find anyone who has a bad word to say about him, and that was true even before he died."

Tom Teves said he was on vacation in Hawaii with his wife and two other sons when they got the news from Alex's girlfriend, who was hysterical. Alex Teves recently earned his master's degree in psychology and was planning to become a physical therapist, his father said.

The younger Teves served as a mentor at the University of Arizona in Tucson and at the University of Denver. One of the people he mentored contacted the family this week saying that Alex Teves had set him on the right path, changing his life.

"Alex had the heart of a lion," his father said. "He had a heart of gold, too. He marched to the beat of his own drummer. He never was concerned about being cool."

Tom Teves added: "At 18, he was a better man than I am at 52. Even in death, he is teaching me."

Meanwhile, the body of a former Reno, Nev., resident who died in the shooting was being flown home to be buried. The family of Navy veteran Jonathan Blunk, 26, said his body is to arrive Friday at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, KOLO-TV reported.

His funeral is scheduled for Aug. 3 at the Mountain View Mortuary.

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