USA TODAY International Edition
Too soon? Students decide we’ll talk about guns March 24
Organizers plan multiple marches
survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting rampage have set a date to talk about guns: March 24.
The nationwide group March For Our Lives announced on Sunday the march on the nation’s capital and other cities to press their demands for safer schools and for legislation “to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant” across the nation.
“Politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now,” the group said in announcing the march. “Not one more — we cannot allow one more child to be shot at school.”
Other groups also have announced protests. Organizers of the Women’s March held across the nation last month called for a 17-minute walkout by teachers nationwide on March 14, the one-month anniversary of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 people dead.
The Network for Public Education set April 20 as a Day of Action, calling for protests at schools on the day marking the 19th anniversary of the deadly shootings at Colorado’s Columbine High School.
“Organize sit-ins, teach-ins, walkouts, marches,” Diane Ravitch urged. “It’s time to let our legislators know that they must stand up to the gun lobby.”
As the outrage grew, details emerged about the Parkland shooting suspect. Records show Nikolas Cruz, 19, was diagnosed as developmentally delayed at age 3 and had disciplinary problems dating to middle school, the Associated Press reported.
On Sept. 28, 2016, an investigator from the Florida Department of Children and Families visited Cruz and his mother, Lynda Cruz, after he posted video on Snapchat showing him cutting himself. A crisis counselor told the department investigator that he had visited the school and that he did not believe Cruz was a danger to himself or others, AP reported.
The March For Our Lives goes beyond the Parkland massacre, organizers say. The group says it was inspired, created and led by students across the nation who refuse to risk more lives by going to school while adults fail to take action.
Among the group’s leaders is Camer- on Kasky, an 11th-grader at the school. Kasky had gone to pick up his brother from his special-needs classroom Wednesday when the fire alarm went off. They went outside but were told to hustle back into the classroom. Unsure what was going on, they waited for an hour before a SWAT team ushered them to safety. But many of their teachers and fellow students were not so fortunate.
“People are saying that it’s not time to talk about gun control. And we can respect that,” Kasky told ABC’s This Week. “Here’s a time: March 24th in every single city. We are going to be marching together as students begging for our lives.”
The group demands a comprehensive bill be immediately brought before Congress to address gun control.
“School safety is not a political issue,” the group says. “There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing and growing.”
“School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives of children.” March For Our Lives statement