Michigan Takes On March For Our Lives For Gun Control

DETROIT, MI — Metro Detroiters will join thousands across the country in the March For Our Lives this Saturday, where people of all backgrounds will take a stand together against gun violence in the country. More than 800 marches are being planned in cities nationwide, including the main march in Washington D.C. where student activists hope to urge lawmakers for stricter gun control. The rally was inspired by the most recent mass shooting on Feb. 14 at a high school in Parkland, Fla., but organizers say violence has gone too far, coining the hashtag #NeverAgain.

“We’re doing this for the lives lost in Parkland. Las Vegas. Orlando. San Bernardino. Newtown. The list goes on, and on. We’re marching in hopes this won’t keep happening, #NeverAgain,” says the Ann Arbor March For Our Lives website. “We’re marching for common sense gun control. We’re Marching For Our Lives.”

Detroit’s March For Our Lives will kick off at 11 a.m. at Rivard Plaza, 1340 E. Atwater St., just half a mile from Canada. The U.S. has 51 times the deaths Canada has from gun violence. The event is meant to include people of all ages, races and life paths, but as a student-led initiative, the youth are at the forefront of the movement. West Bloomfield resident and mother Jen Clarkson will be one of the hundreds coming together to march downtown.

“I’m a supporter of gun control and I believe that our government is not listening to what the people are telling it when they say they want stricter guidelines in terms of purchasing guns and ownership,” Clarkson said. “I have two middle school-aged children and my older child asks me every time he hears that there’s a school shooting and it’s obvious that it’s something that weighs on him.”

Her older son, an eighth-grader at The Roeper School, will be attending the march with her. She said she reinforces that not only is she there for him, but his school is supportive and the community cares.
“I think he needs to see that there’s a whole community of people out there who think that he matters and that we’re trying to do something to ensure that his going to school doesn’t mean that he could potentially lose his life,” she added.

While some adults and parents have criticized the student-led movement, Clarkson believes being younger than the voting age doesn’t mean they don’t have a say in this critical issue.

“They are the ones dying,” Clarkson said. “I have been so impressed to watch these children from Florida speak up for themselves in an articulate and knowledgeable fashion. And I am proud to see so many other teenagers taking up the mantle, even with some adults telling them they have no place in the debate.”

State Rep. Jim Ellison, of Royal Oak, said he’s hoping this youth movement will inspire leaders from all political parties to find a resolution. He will be on the ground Saturday joining members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and students from Royal Oak High School for the march.

“These kids are our future, we’ve got to hear from them, we can’t ignore them,” Ellison, a Democrat, said. “I hope this offers us a way to fix this thing where we can all work together.”

Ellison said he’s drawn his own inspiration from talking with young people about gun violence in America and believes they should stay at the center of the debate.

“The bottom line is, they are the ones sitting in the classroom being assaulted,” he said. “These are the kids going to school and wondering if someone is going to shoot them.”

For more information on the national demonstration or to sign the petition, click here.

>>> Read more on the metro Detroit March For Our Lives
>>> Read more on the Ann Arbor March For Our Lives

Sophie Phillips holds a sign as she attends a rally for those heading to the March for Our Lives event in Washington D.C. on March 20, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. The rally was held in the name of the 17 students and school staff killed on Valentines Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)