More than 50 persons wearing bright orange stickers reading “Guns Save Lives” packed the chambers of the Falls Church City Council Monday night to protest Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner’s membership in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns association founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

While none of the protesters stated they were residents of Falls Church, but visiting from Loudoun County and other outlying jurisdictions, a dozen other citizens, all Falls Church City residents, countered the protest by speaking out in favor of the mayor’s decision. Those opposing the Mayors Against Illegal Guns were led by Philip Van Cleve, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League from Newington, Virginia who accused the Mayors of a “hidden agenda of propagating law suits and propaganda against the gun industry.”

Those Falls Church City residents supporting Mayor Gardner’s decision to align with the Mayors group were led by Hannah Jordan, who a 15-year City resident who said, “More than two years ago, 32 members of the Falls Church community, myself included, participated in a lie-in organizede by ProtestEasyGuns in front of our community center…in solidarity with the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre.” She noted 450 mayors across the U.S. “support sensible gun laws” that “have one goal in common: reducing criminal access to guns.”