Students protest school gun violence

Summoned by high school students swept up in school violence, thousands swarmed into the nation’s capital and cities across America on Saturday to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young.

“We’re not just gonna stand back and be quiet”, said Eden Alemayehu, 17, a student at Lexington High School.

“Now we’re trying to change gun laws”, added Munera.

On that day, students plan to walk out of their classrooms, and refuse to return until the topic of gun control on politicians’ national agenda.

“I just threw up on global television and it feels great”, she said to loud cheers.

Morgan Smith: I shouldn’t be afraid to go to school.

“The kids are not going to let it die”, said Knowles, who has seven great-grandchildren.

“We have to do something about it because if we don’t no one else will”, she said.

A lone gunman stormed the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and took the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Florida, on February 14.

Since the bloodshed in Florida, students have tapped into a current of gun control sentiment that has been building for years – yet still faces a powerful foe in the NRA, its millions of supporters and lawmakers who have resisted any encroachment on gun rights. Almost 500 residents came to march in support of stricter gun laws in Rio Rancho Saturday. They also support universal background checks and closing the so-called gun show loophole, which allows private sellers to avoid a background check. “I worked with kids for 30-plus years. I want to show everyone that I’m there for them”.

Meek says it’s a way to make their voices heard, but she says a key next step is improving access, for more people to do the same in the future. Exactly how many protesters will actually gather Saturday has become a local guessing game.

“I used to do ER work in Los Angeles and Atlanta and saw pediatric gun violence on a daily basis”, Auerbach said.

“I really believe in showing up”, Knight said.

Kilmurray first marched on behalf of an issue when she joined others from the Eau Claire area in Madison in opposition to Act 10.

Leading the chant for the crowd of marchers on NM 528 is Abou-Nica Fomukong (left) and Skekinah Cantell (right).

– Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in “March for our Lives” events Saturday, demanding gun reform to make students safer at school.

Protesters attend the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, DC.

In Utah, the organizers of the pro-gun March Before Our Lives wrote on Facebook: “We march in support of the rights, lives, safety, and security of our children”.

The four Memorial students acknowledged not all their classmates agree with their gun-control stance. “Many of the people are under 18 which means they can’t book their own hotel room and the cost is a big issue, too”. In Salt Lake City, several hundred people gathered near a high school, some carrying signs with messages like “AR-15’s EMPOWER the people”. “We have seen enough examples to know that a white man who holds that gun whose crime will be sanitized”.

Since the Parkland attack, the state of Florida and the US Congress have made only modest tweaks to gun laws and President Donald Trump’s proposal to arm teachers has met with widespread resistance. “We want school shootings to end”, Cho said.

“Our students leave school and are forced to consider how they are going to survive the walk home”, said Nigel Jackson, a social worker at National Collegiate Preparatory, which is in a high-crime and low-income neighbourhood in Washington.

“I think we are fed up, and (school shootings) have gone on for too long”, she said. That’s not what we want to do at the rally.