Students held signs that read “Never again,” “Protect us, not guns” and “How many more?” on the Capitol’s West Front lawn.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty ImagesA student holds a sign at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2018, during a National Walkout to protest gun violence, one month after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed.
“My message would be to please make a law to keep students or anyone that is mentally ill, from having a gun,” 13-year-old Amara Hill told ABC News. “People who are mentally ill, they might encourage to hurt each other. If you see someone out in the city and they have issues, going on with them, please talk to them, help them.”
“To start, we will not sit in classrooms with armed teachers,” Matt Post, a 12th-grader and student board president of Montgomery County, Md. public schools, said. “We refuse to learn in fear, we reject turning our schools into prisons.”
Trump administration proposals call for trained teachers to be armed to help prevent another shooting like Parkland.
Lawmakers, including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. joined students in support.
“I say to my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle: No one’s political survival is more important than the survival of our children,” Pelosi said. “Let’s get the job done.”
Some lawmakers, including Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., sat down with the high school students to discuss gun control concerns.
“To all the #VA11 students walking out today in support of gun safety, I am proud of you and I am with you 100%. #NationalWalkoutDay,” Connolly tweeted.
The walkout was supposed to last for 17 minutes to mark the 17 Parkland lives lost, but the demonstration lasted much longer.
Although the students’ protest brought national attention to the gun control issue and gained attention from lawmakers, their fight for change is far from over.
A “March for our Lives” organized by survivors of the Parkland high school shooting in Washington, D.C., is planned for March 24.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
