'March For Our Lives' Wisconsin Students To March 50 Miles

MADISON, WI — As people demonstrate in their communities on March 24 to stand with the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a group of students and like-minded supporters in Wisconsin will be going the extra mile the following day — 50 miles in fact — to push for gun control.

Called 50 Miles More, this group says they are taking inspiration from the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery march for civil rights in the 1960s to stage their own march. On March 25, students from across Wisconsin will be embarking on a four day, 50-mile march from the State Capitol in Madison to Speaker Paul Ryan’s hometown of Janesville.

The group will complete their journey at Traxler Park in Janesville on March 28 where they will hold a demonstration in hopes of getting Ryan's attention on gun control issues.

Shorewood High School student Katie Eder, who told Patch.com that she and others from Shorewood High School will be making the trek, said they plan on walking between 12-13 miles per day, going through Oregon, Evansville and walking along bike paths, local streets and some highways on their way. They're spending the night at a couple different high schools during their trek and plan on dining at local restaurants along the way.

"The impossible is being done," Eder said. "This is a big feat and we are pulling this together. We hope Paul Ryan takes the time to hear us." Eder was one of Shorewood High School's co-leaders of the March 14 student walkout, which you can read about and watch here.

From march co-lead Brendan Fardella: “We refuse to let Parkland be just another tragedy where kids get killed and then people in power move on with their lives, leaving behind only hollow ‘thoughts and prayers.’ It is our time as the next generation to recognize the power we have and join our voices together to demand real and visible change. We are going to keep the heat on the people who have been elected to serve us, starting with Paul Ryan, who actually has the power to make legislative change. And if Paul Ryan and other politicians refuse, the youth of America will demand change at the ballot box this November and beyond.”

Among their policy demands are the following:

• Military-style weapons, and all weapons of war, should be banned from civilian society.
• All accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons, such as bump stocks, should be banned.
• Four day waiting period on all gun purchases.
• Require background checks on all gun sales.

• Raise the legal purchasing age of all guns to 21.

“We know how easy it is for the media and politicians to move on from a tragedy created by gun violence. We have grown up experiencing school shootings followed by this inaction, and we refuse to let it happen this time,” said march co-lead Katie Eder, a senior at Shorewood High School. “We want to make sure that when the March For Our Lives events end on the 24th, people don’t stop talking and thinking about the need for gun reform."

Ryan Articulates Gun Position

According to an earlier Wisconsin Patch.com report, Ryan has met with students before regarding the gun control issue when he met with students of Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida following a horrific school shooting that left 17 of their classmates dead.

"These young people are smart and passionate, and I'm grateful to them for sharing their story. They have just experienced incredible tragedy, and we had an important discussion about how to keep our kids and our schools safe," Ryan said in a prepared statement. "We will continue to work to find common ground on solutions that can help prevent the kind of senseless violence these students endured. I thank them for making this journey and speaking with me."

According to a CNN report the students at the meeting asked Ryan for a ban on assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines while implementing universal background checks Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who was also at the meeting, said that Ryan indicated that these measures don't have broad support, in that all three ideas have significant opposition in both chambers in Congress.

Ryan stated at a news conference earlier in the day before meeting with Parkland students that he did not want to infringe on citizens' constitutional rights and due process rights while speaking about some of the protections he wants to see put in place.

"We shouldn't be banning guns for law-abiding citizens, we should be focusing on making sure that citizens who should not get guns in the first place don't get those guns, and that is why we see a big breakdown in the system here. In this particular case, there were a lot of breakdowns, from local law enforcement, to the FBI getting tips that they didn't follow up on, to, you know, school resource officers who are trained to protect kids in these schools, and who didn't do that, and that to me is probably the most stunning one of all."

Ryan did admit, however, that there were clear gaps in the U.S. background check system that needed to be filled and mental health reforms that were urgently needed. Ryan said that sweeping mental health reforms were passed earlier this year, "but those reforms still have a ways to go to be implemented."

Photo of Shorewood Walkout By Scott Anderson Patch.com

Photo of Paul Ryan Published With Permission From Speaker Ryan's Office