Students Prepare ‘March for Our Lives’ to Protest Gun Violence
Eric Tegethoff, Public News Service – WA
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Students and other Washingtonians are gearing up to march for their lives this Saturday to protest gun violence.
In the Evergreen State, at least 15 “March for Our Lives” protests are planned in solidarity with the largest march in Washington, D.C., where survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting and their supporters will be taking to the streets. Protesters plan to draw on the momentum from school walkouts last week.
Elli Delzer, a student at Eastmont High School in Wenatchee, joined hundreds of her peers in that walkout and is organizing Saturday’s march.
“Especially after events like the Florida shooting, Sandy Hook, all these children being killed, I think people are tired of it,” Delzer said. “They’re ready to finally demand that people stop getting killed.”
The Wenatchee march will begin at 3 p.m. on March 24.
The D.C. march is being organized in partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety. It’s drawn donations from Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg and other celebrities. The march will be dedicated, in part, to supporting gun-control measures.
Opponents say gun control is not effective for stopping mass shootings and infringes on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
While Delzer disagrees with President Donald Trump’s proposal to arm teachers, she said she commends him for looking for solutions. She agrees with the president that mental health is a piece of the gun-violence puzzle. But, she said gun control has to be part of the conversation as well.
“Making gun control laws and making it more difficult to obtain a gun would be a good solution,” she said; “so that people are less likely to be able to commit this mass murder if they have less chance to get to this weapon.”
Other marches in Washington are planned for Olympia, Seattle, Spokane and more. According to the March for Our Lives website, more than 700 sibling protests are scheduled worldwide to call for an end to gun violence.
