BOSTON (WHDH) - More students are expected to take a stand against gun violence in a show of solidarity with the students in Parkland, Florida.
Students in Arlington and Scituate, among other schools, are set to walk out of class Thursday to demand stricter gun control.
This banner just put up in front of #Arlington High School, it says #neveragain. Walk out planned for 10am. @7News pic.twitter.com/BSHRn9qPSn
— John Cuoco (@JCuocoNews) March 15, 2018
Info from @ArlingtonMAPD about today’s walk out @7News pic.twitter.com/zsguqrspnd
— John Cuoco (@JCuocoNews) March 15, 2018
On Wednesday, class was canceled due to snow, but students from high schools and colleges in and around Boston, chanting “enough is enough,” marched across the Common and up to the Massachusetts Statehouse to protest gun violence.
The protest comes as part of a wave of activism created after last month’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Walkouts were held across the country.
“We’re doing more in America to adapt to school shootings than to prevent them, and that’s just not okay,” one student told 7News.
Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but some students say more can be done both at the national level and the state level.
“We want specific regulation focusing on bump stocks and the ERPO bill. We want change made here and obviously we want to create a national movement to help us get change for the whole country,” said Pascal Betkert, a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
The ERPO, or Extreme Risk Protective Order bill, is being considered by Beacon Hill lawmakers. The bill would take away guns from those who show signs they may hurt themselves or others.
“The day that it has to be passed by is April, so that’s why we’re out here now. Because it’s national lobby day of course, but we want to get this bill passed now,” said Amalia Hochman, a student protest organizer.
Once inside the statehouse, students held a rally as a handful of lawmakers listened. The bill’s sponsor says she stands with the students.
“I’m so proud of them. Young people are just really taking charge of their own lives. They’re saying to the adults, enough is enough,” State Rep. Marjorie Decker said.
The Gun Owners Action League calls the bill cruel in terms of civil rights and also dangerous to the public.
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