Students protest outside gun company

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Student gun-control advocates and one of the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting on Sunday completed a 50-mile, four-day march in Massachusetts to the headquarters of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, where they protested gun violence and weapons manufacturing.

More than 100 protesters rallied outside company headquarters in Springfield. They held American flags and signs that read “We Can End Gun Violence” and “Books not Bullets.”

The marchers condemned Smith & Wesson for making the rifle used in the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The group wants the company to donate $5 million to gun violence research.

Protesters said they also want the company stop making weapons outlawed under Massachusetts’ 2004 assault weapons ban. That law mirrors a federal ban that expired in 2004.

Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg, who spoke at the rally, called the march empowering. He said Massachusetts shows how commonsense gun laws work.

Counterprotesters held signs across the street from Smith & Wesson supporting the gun-maker and the Second Amendment, which protects the right to have weapons. They held signs that read “I love S&W.” Others held signs with images of firearms.

State and local police kept the two protests separated on opposite sides of a four-lane road.