US students protest against gun violence

About 3,000 schools across the nation participate in huge walkout

One month after the Feb 14 massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, young activists across the United States marched to demand an end to gun violence.

Organized by Women's March Youth Empower, thousands of students and teachers walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday as part of the Enough! National School Walkout to raise awareness about issues of school safety and gun control.

The walkout lasted 17 minutes at 10 am across every time zone to mark the 17 deaths at the school shooting in Florida by a former student.

About 3,000 schools across the country participated in Wednesday's nationwide protest, according to USA Today.

Rachel Song, an 11th grader from Brooklyn Technical High School, shouted "enough is enough", as did many other students gathered at Borough Hall in Brooklyn.

"We want to end gun violence. It's a simple and clear message," Song said, holding a sign saying "End Gun Violence" and a red cross over the letters "NRA (National Rifle Association)".

The students were sending a message to lawmakers for stricter gun laws.

"At 18 you can vote and buy an assault rifle in some cities, but you can't drink. So why drinking is resolved for 21 but you can get an assault rifle at 18? It doesn't make sense," said Katrina Taeza, a junior at Brooklyn Tech.

"It will be hard to completely get rid of guns. We can start by having legislators prevent kids, or anyone, from getting an assault rifle," Taeza said.

Representatives of government officials also spoke at the various protests.

"Today, we say enough is enough to gun violence, and I am proud to stand in solidarity with America's students in the fight to prevent additional gun tragedies," said US Representative Grace Meng, who joined students on Capi-tol Hill in Washington.

Kyra Du, a student at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, said: "I feel now it's time for American students to stand up, take opportunities, march to DC to show Congress this needs to be done, and all the issues related with students need to be solved."

Across the country, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan joined students in a rally at the University of Washington's Red Square.

"Seeing so many students out today marching and standing up to demand action is truly inspiring. We know that the future is yours to create - change will happen with you," Durkan tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.

The NRA also posted on Twitter: "Let's work together to stop school violence" and tweeted a picture of a semi-automatic rifle with the words,"I'll control my own guns, thank you."

Zhang Ruinan in New York, Guo Fengqing in Washington and Linda Deng in Seattle contributed to this story.

judyzhu@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 03/16/2018 page11)