Students join event to end gun violence

Bentonville, Springdale set for March For Our Lives

Students and other community members plan to take to the streets of Bentonville and Springdale today as part of the national March For Our Lives movement, because they said they feel student lives and safety aren’t a priority.

Sadie Bell, co-organizer and Bentonville High School senior, said the event is scheduled from noon to 2:30 p.m. on the Bentonville downtown square.

Police and organizers said there could be 1,000 attendees judging by social media.

The Springdale march is expected to be significantly smaller. It will start at 10 a.m. at Walter Turnbow Park at Shiloh Square. Caleb Casey, organizer and Har-Ber High School senior, said demonstrators plan to walk about 10 minutes west and stand along South Thompson Street holding signs for drivers to see.

Students will read the names and a little bit about each of the 17 people who were killed Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The student organizers said they stand behind the national message to “end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today.”

The main March For Our Lives event will take place in Washington and others are planned in cities across the country today.

“The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues,” according to marchforourlives.com. “No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.”

The national organization’s website doesn’t have specific legislation it supports or proposes, but it calls for lawmakers to pass gun control legislation and for citizens to vote out politicians who have received large sums of money from the National Rifle Association.

Both local events will have voter registration booths, organizers said.

Taylor Gibson, co-organizer and West High School junior said, “People say ‘Oh you’re just a student,’ ‘You’re not a voter,’ ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ My whole speech will focus on how we have more pull than people think. If you’re old enough to be shot, you’re old enough to have an opinion.”

Bentonville police will work with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the state police to provide security during the event. Streets surrounding the square — including Central, Main, A and Second — will be temporarily closed to vehicles.

Counter-protest groups have indicated they will attend the event, according to a police news release.

Bentonville police spokesman Gene Page said the square is a gun-free zone.

“Due to the expected size of the event, parking will be limited and restricted to areas outside the square. Commuters and visitors traveling in the area can expect delays and should plan accordingly,” according to the release.

Student organizers said they want the events to be as nonpartisan as possible and stated the marches are not anti-Second Amendment.

“Kids dying in schools is not a partisan issue,” Bell said.

Haas Hall sophomore Grayson Gomulka will speak about Second Amendment rights in context with related Supreme Court rulings and comprehensive gun control, she said.

Bell told those in the Facebook group “March For Our Lives-Bentonville” not to bring signs with sticks or poles or to bring backpacks or large bags. She advised attendees to ignore counterprotesters.

“Of course, it’s outrageous and upsetting that anyone would choose to protest a march led by students who are understandably scared for their lives,” Bell said. “Should you come across anyone who is trying to disrupt the event for any reason, please do not engage them. Confrontation is what they are looking for, and it distracts from our message.

“Please also make sure you keep yourself, family and friends close together, and immediately leave the area if you feel unsafe.”

Other related Northwest Arkansas events are in the works, the students said.

“We don’t want the movement to end after this weekend. We need to keep the momentum,” Casey said.