Austin-Area Students Stage Walkout In Call For Stricter Gun Laws

AUSTIN, TX — Some 500 students at several Austin-area schools staged walkouts Wednesday afternoon to show solidarity with students in Florida demanding stricter gun laws after a lone gunman killed 17 at a campus there.

About 100 students at Clint Small Middle School in Southwest Austin walked out at lunchtime, according to reports. A smaller group of about 15 students walked out of class at Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park, officials at Leander ISD confirmed. The largest mass walkout occurred just outside of Austin in Dripping Springs, where more than 300 students engaged in the display of civil disobedience, according to social media posts and other sources.

School officials at each campus said security personnel were on hand, not to stop the demonstrations but to ensure students' safety.

The demonstrations mirrored numerous others at schools throughout the the country after a gunman opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. last week, killing 17 people that included several students. In the aftermath, young people have been galvanized in calling for stricter gun laws to prevent future such tragedies along with calls for school officials to implement campus policies fortifying campus safety.

According to a petition on change.org, future similar protests are schedule to mark the one-month anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on March 14 and the 19-year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting on April 20. Additionally, a “March for Our Lives” rally calling for a halt to school shootings is planned in Washington D.C. and other communities on March 24.

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