Local students join call for gun control

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jonna Backers was just a year old when her 19-year-old brotherwas shot in the head.

She never really got to know him, she said, but her own family’s exposure to gun violence spurred her to join other students in the area and across the country to call for stricter gun laws, especially after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead. Ten people were killed in a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas last week.

“I personally think it’s important to speak about what you believe in,” said Ms. Backers, a senior at Baldwin High School. “Even though I’m a youth, my voice should not be unheard.”

She joined several other Pittsburgh-area students Tuesday at a “Day of Action” news conference in Harrisburg, organized by state Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Lincoln-Lemington, before lobbying state lawmakers on pending gun safety bills.

Students from Pittsburgh Westinghouse, Woodland Hills High School and more were in attendance and also shared their personal experiences with gun violence in their communities.

“I truly want to ask for laws that protect my brothers and sisters and the community and at school,” Ms. Backers said during the news conference.

Mr. Gainey’s father, Jacob Talton, spoke during the rally about losing his 29- year-old daughter — Ja-nese Jackson Talton, the state representative’s sister — to gun violence in 2016. Mr. Gainey called for bipartisan cooperation to “pass sensible gun legislation to protect our children.”

“We are calling on everybody, hear these stories, help us to pass sensible gun legislation,” he said. “The time is now. It’s not going to get better until we intervene.”