NC Students Tackle Gun Reform In Wake Of Florida Shooting

CHARLOTTE, NC -- In the wake of last week’s school shooting and as students across Florida rally with demands for legislative gun reform, students across North Carolina are starting to add their voices to the debate over what it will take to make schools safer.

In Charlotte, one group of student leaders made the case for improved resources in area schools targeting bullying, safety and active shooter drills. Twenty members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council met in an emergency meeting Feb. 20 to discuss the shooting and to brainstorm actions to present to school, city and county leaders.

“We all need to be prepared that this could happen in our school,” said council member Emma-Katherine Bowers, who is a sophomore at Myers Park High School, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Students at South Mecklenburg High School honored the 17 shooting victims in Florida Tuesday by writing letters to express their feelings and meeting at the school’s courtyard for 17 minutes of reflection. Elsewhere in the region, students at South Point High School in Gaston County walked out of school, chanting “Enough is enough,” the Observer said.

Tuesday night in Raleigh, a crowd of about 850 people, including students rallied outside the state house lighting candles to honor the shooting victims and to demand gun reform, the News & Observer reported.

“Guns don’t stop guns,” said Chapel Hill High School student Zainab Antepli at the state house rally. “What stops guns are laws drafted and enforced. We are calling for common sense. We are calling for adults to start acting like it.”

SEE ALSO: Florida School Survivors Get Support From Students, Celebrities

In Florida Tuesday, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School traveled 400 miles to Tallahassee to rally and meet with lawmakers in the state capital about gun reform, only for state politicians to vote not to consider an assault rifle ban. Rallies grew across the state Wednesday.

In Charlotte, school officials are planning for the region’s own upcoming protests.

“The tragedy in Broward County last week and other losses of life on school campuses across the nation over several years have driven increased interest in student-led civic engagement efforts and actions, including the idea of school walk-outs,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Chief Communications Officer Tracy Russ said in a Feb. 19 memo this week to school principals, the Charlotte Observer said.

“CMS supports students’ Constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and free expression. Our goal in responding to walk-out plans and other forms of peaceful assembly is to try and keep focus on teaching and learning while providing guidance and planning to support student and staff safety,” Russ said.

SEE ALSO: Charlotte Area Schools Ramp Up Security After Florida Shooting

Here is a list of three upcoming national protests aimed at legislative gun reform:

• March 14, 2018, 10 a.m. -- National School Walkout. Say event organizers: “Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10am across every time zone on March 14, 2018 to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.
• March 24, 2018 -- March For Our Lives. Say event organizers: “On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today. March with us in Washington DC or march in your own community. On March 24, the collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.
• April 20, 2018 -- National High School Student Walk Out. Say event organizers: “On Friday, April 20th, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting I propose a National High School student walk out. Walk out of school, wear orange and protest online and in your communities. Sign the petition if you pledge to do so. Nothing has changed since Columbine, let us start a movement that lets the government know the time for change is now.”

Main Photo Caption: FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A protester holds a sign that reads, 'NRA Stop Killing Our Kids', outside the court-room where Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was having a bond hearing in front of Broward Judge Kim Mollica at the Broward County Courthouse on February 15, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Mr. Cruz is possibly facing 17 counts of premeditated murder in the school shooting. (Photo by Charles Trainor Jr. - Pool/Getty Images

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