Students Walkout for Gun Control on Columbine Anniversary
Thousands of students from around country and right here in Minnesota, walked out of their classes on Friday to mark the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
At exactly 10 a.m., a group of students from Park Center High School and Brooklyn Middle STEAM school walked out of their classrooms. The walkout is part of a national movement called “March For Our Lives.” The goal is to stand up for positive change and stricter gun laws.
“Enough is enough and end gun violence now,” shouted Brooklyn Middle School student, Rodiant Adeduntan. “I want them to change it so it can’t be easy for someone to just go into a gun shop and get a gun and come over here and shoot up a school.”
Park Center freshman, Christian Haack also walked out. “They should do more extensive background checks on people who are getting guns,” he said.
His mom, Jennifer Haack, supports his decision to protest. In fact, she’s the one who got him out of school.
“I told him he needed to have a good speech for me about why this is important to him, what the issue is,” explained Jennifer.
“He chose to go to the library, do some research, and then write some letters to his local representatives about why he feels gun reform is important,” said Jennifer.
Meanwhile, some students carried on with the protest by walking two miles to Brooklyn Park City Hall. City Manager, Jay Stroebel greeted the group and listened to their concerns.
“Just because it happened somewhere else, doesn’t mean it can’t happen here,” said one student.
When things wrapped up, students took their voices outside, spreading their message of hope for a better tomorrow.
Students say they’re disappointed they didn’t get to meet with the mayor and other city council officials. However they call this day a success, because they got to exercise their first amendment rights.
Gun control and school safety have been debate at the Minnesota Legislature this session. Several proposals, including background checks for all gun purchases have stalled. More progress is being made on proposals for security upgrades at schools.
