Santa Cruz Co. Students Will Take Part In School Walkout

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — One month after the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School left 17 people dead, high school students in Santa Cruz will walk out of class as part of a nationwide effort to push lawmakers to come up with "common sense gun control" laws and to remember the victims. Thousands of schools, including many in the East Bay, are expected to participate in the student demonstrations Wednesday morning.

Organizers of the Women’s March called on students, teachers, administrators and parents to participate. The ENOUGH National School Walkout will be held at 10 a.m. March 14, exactly one month from the Florida shooting, and is expected to last 17 minutes — one minute for each life lost.

So far, students from the Pacific Collegiate School, a charter school in Santa Cruz, have registered for the event. Hundreds of students across the state also plan on participating. Earlier this month, the Santa Cruz City Schools Board of Education approved a resolution to Support Student and Community Safety in the wake of the most recent school massacre.

Despite inaction from federal legislators in the month since the tragic shooting, businesses nationwide have taken it upon themselves to raise the age limit for purchasing firearms as well as removing assault rifles from their inventories. This action has been met with widespread criticism from both sides of the gun argument.

Photo courtesy Autumn Johnson/ Patch