Students Continue Fight For Gun Safety In Gloucester Township

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Another rally for common sense gun laws will take place in Gloucester Township this weekend. The “We Unite For Safety Walk” takes place on Sunday, May 6, at noon. It will run from Lincoln Drive, down Chews Landing Road and ending at the entrance to Veterans Park for a ceremony.

The walk will include students from all three Black Horse Pike Regional School District schools, and speakers will include Assemblywoman Gabriela Mosquera (D-4) and Gloucester Township Mayor David Mayer, among others. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1) will send a letter that will be read, there will be a DJ and a dance team will perform, according to Timber Creek Regional High School Junior Ian Malone, 16, who is one of the organizers of the event.

“School shooting drills have been a practice for us since kindergarten,” Malone said. “It was like a game for us when we were in kindergarten, but as we got older, we realized this is something that could happen here.”

He said after the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students began to ask questions about whether something like this could happen at their school, and the reality is that it could. Students across the nation asked the same question and mobilized.

Unlike the response to previous school shootings, the issue doesn’t seem to have died after only a few weeks. In March, Gloucester Township school counselor Diana Trasatti, of Collingswood, told Patch she had never seen a response to a school shooting like what has happened since the Parkland shootings.

“I've been a part of (Moms Demand Action) through the Vegas shooting, the Pulse Night Club shooting and now the Parkland shooting, and I've never seen an influx like this,” Trasatti said at the time.

That was in the lead up to the March for Our Lives event in Audubon on March 24. It was amid two national school walkout events on March 14 and April 20. There was also a forum at Timber Creek on March 14. And then there’s this rally that will take place in Gloucester Township this weekend. Malone said the movement isn't dying this time because of the impact of social media.

“You see the reports on the news, but videos of the shooting have also been posted on Snapchat,” Malone said. “We can talk to each other on social media. We can communicate with Parkland students on social media.”

He said Highland Regional High School’s senior class came up with the idea for this march. Class President Daniel Walker contacted him about doing it. Malone said he really wanted to do it because it is crucial to stay involved.

Locally, he said he’s been told there’s been an increase in students reporting things because they are more alert now. There have been unspecified threats and threats that were unfounded, and the Gloucester Township Police Department has tracked them all, he said.

Malone’s parents are proud of him for getting involved and hope to see him make a real difference. Other students involved in putting the walk together from Highland are Grace Simmons, Ummulkhayer Sameha, Priyanka Sanghavi, and Maya Sandlin. Triton student Zach Dobinson is also involved.

Chews Landing Road between Lincoln Drive and Hider Lane will be temporarily closed down for the walk, Gloucester Township police said. Residents should expect police activity and heavy pedestrian traffic in the area of Chews Landing Road during the walk and ceremony. Drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible and use caution.

See related: March For Our Lives In South Jersey Saturday

See related: Cherry Hill Students Carry Silhouettes In Protest

See related: Watch: Over 200 Students Walked Out At Ocean City High School

Photo: Parkland, Florida - Feb. 17: Juliana Cruz joins with others as they protest against guns on February 17, 2018, in Parkland, Florida. Earlier this week former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killing 17 people. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)