Youth to rally against gun violence
Students from schools in Santa Fe and the surrounding region will hold a Gun Violence Prevention Youth Rally on Friday at the state Capitol as part of a nationwide demonstration.
National School Walkout, scheduled on the anniversary of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado that killed 12 students and a teacher, is designed to raise awareness of gun violence targeting youth and to honor those who have died in school shootings, according to a news release issued by Santa Fe Public Schools, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence and other organizations that have teamed up for the local event.
About 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to hold similar events Friday.
The day won’t include protests by students at Columbine High, however.
Just as it is every year since the shooting, The Associated Press reported, Columbine High will be closed, and students will continue their tradition of holding a day of service.
The youth protests come about a month after students worldwide organized demonstrations in more than 800 cities, calling for tougher gun control measures. March for Our Lives was held largely in response to a February mass shooting at a high school in Florida, where 17 students and staff were slain.
Marchers — including nearly 4,000 in Santa Fe — were inspired by the activism of young survivors of the Florida massacre who have been pressuring lawmakers to take action.
A week and a half before the march, several Santa Fe schools joined about 3,000 across the nation in holding walkouts to honor the Parkland victims and call for increased school safety efforts.
Last weekend, gun-rights advocates pushed back against the student-led efforts at statehouses around the country. About 150 people, many bearing rifles and pistols, gathered Saturday at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe, voicing their support for the Second Amendment and expressing their reasons for packing heat.
Co-organizer Robert Overton of Rio Rancho called the pro-gun control youth activists “pawns” of the left and “brainwashed.”
Friday’s event in Santa Fe will begin with a panel discussion on gun violence and school safety at 10:30 a.m. in Room 307 of the Capitol. Local legislators, the state police chief and leaders of several organizations will participate in the talk with students from Santa Fe Public Schools’ Student Wellness Action Team and other groups.
At noon, adults and students will set up information booths where young people can register to vote and learn how to write letters to local and national elected officials. An art display will honor children who have been the victims of gun violence.
The event will culminate with a 1 p.m. student-organized rally outside the Roundhouse.
It was unclear how many young people plan to attend the rally. While public elementary schools in Santa Fe dismiss at 12:30 p.m. Fridays, middle schools and high schools operate for the full day.
Jeff Gephart, a spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools, said the district is sending a busload of teens to the Capitol from the Student Wellness Action Team who earned approval to attend the event.
As for other students who might decide to leave school to participate in the rally, Gephart said, “Any students that are leaving campus, we try to persuade them not to leave, but we never physically stop them from leaving. … Our intention there is to make sure that our students are safe.”
Contact Robert Nott at 505-986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.