Tulsans Hold Vigil For Victims Of Las Vegas Shooting

Tuesday night, people from all over Tulsa prayed for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

Sixty candles lit up a dark room at All Souls Church in Tulsa, 59 candles for the people killed in Sunday's mass shooting and the 60th candle represented people killed by gun violence nationwide.

“It's become almost a normal part of American life that there are mass murders happening in work places, schools, churches, movie theaters and other things,” said Reverend Marlin Lavanhar. “And there is nothing normal about it."

It's a time for prayer and for Reverend Lavanhar a time for action.

“Prayers is not enough in this situation,” he said. “Prayer is not going to solve this problem alone so we come together, we pray together but we also have to advocate and legislate for change."

The Church partnered with Moms Demand Action for the vigil.

“We must grieve,” said Moms Demand Action President Alyson King. “We can be angry, but we also take action. And we do things to try and change laws and to try to change the way things are done so that we can make things better."

And for King, that means advocating for what she calls common sense gun laws, like stricter background checks for people who want to buy guns.

“We're not trying to take their guns away and we support the Second Amendment,” said King. “We are truly about common sense gun laws."

The people who showed up say the night is about unity.

"When we have a national tragedy like this, we need to come together as a country, as one country, as one people,” said Lavanhar. “And if we are gonna create real change, we need to do it together.”

A city coming together to remember those who lost their lives and work to build a better world, and during, prayers were heard not only in English but also in Hebrew, Spanish and Arabic theme of unity.