Thousands say ‘enough’ to guns
THEY bowed their heads in honour of the dead. They carried signs with messages like “Never again” and “Am I next?” They railed against the National Rifle Association and the politicians who support it.
And over and over, they repeated the message: enough is enough.
In a wave of protests one historian called the largest of its kind in American history, tens of thousands of students walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday to demand action on gun violence and school safety.
The demonstrations extended from Maine to Hawaii as students joined the youth-led surge of activism set off by the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“We’re sick of it,” said Maxwell Nardi, a pupil at Douglas S Freeman High School in Henrico, Virginia.
Students around the nation left classes at 10am for at least 17 minutes – one minute for each of the dead in the Florida shooting. Some led marches or rallied on football fields, while others gathered in school gyms or knelt in hallways.
At some schools, hundreds of students poured out. At others, just one or two walked out. They lamented that too many young people have died and that they’re tired of going to school afraid they will be killed.
Some issued specific demands for law makers, including mandatory background checks for all gun sales and a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the Florida bloodbath.
While administrators and teachers at some schools applauded students – and some joined them – others threatened punishment for missing classes.
As the demonstrations unfolded, the NRA responded by posting a photo on Twitter of a black rifle emblazoned with an American flag. The caption: “I’ll control my own guns, thank you.”
The protests took place at schools from the elementary level through to college, including some that have witnessed their own mass shootings: about 300 students gathered on a soccer field at Colorado’s Columbine High.
In the nation’s capital, more than 2 000 high-school age protesters observed 17 minutes of silence while sitting on the ground with their backs turned to the White House. President Donald Trump was out of town.
Stoneman Douglas High pupil David Hogg, who has emerged as one of the leading student activists, live-streamed the walkout at the tragedy-stricken school on his Youtube channel. He said students couldn’t be expected to stay in class while there was work to do to prevent gun violence. “Every one of these individuals could have died that day. I could have died that day,” he said.
But whether the students can make a difference on Capitol Hill remains to be seen. Congress has shown little inclination to defy the powerful NRA and tighten gun laws, and Trump backed away from his initial support for raising the minimum age for buying an assault rifle to 21. – Ap/african News Agency (ANA)