Hundreds of outraged Bay State students — saying they’re tired of active-shooter drills and mass-killing headlines — jammed the State House yesterday to demand stronger gun control, joining the national student walkout movement on their snow day.
Throngs of students from at least 50 schools — including those in Somerville, Boston, Medford, Cambridge, Wellesley and Arlington — shouted “enough is enough” and wielded signs reading “fear has no place in our schools” and “protect our kids, not your guns.”
“We have grown up with the words ‘active shooter’ on our tongues. Today we say enough!” said Charlotte Lowell, 17, of Andover High School.
The demonstrations — with thousands of kids across the country, from colleges to elementary schools, walking out of their classrooms — were staged in honor of the 17 victims of the mass shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Because schools statewide were closed due to snow, students gathered at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Tremont Street at 11 a.m. to march to the State House.
Genevieve Baldwin, 14, of Arlington High School said, “You have to make a choice depending on where the intruder is to bar yourself in a classroom or run out of the building. It is scary when you’re a fifth-grader and they tell you hiding in a corner isn’t enough.”
Boston students said it is finally time the country takes action on gun violence, which has plagued minority and poor communities for decades.
“It is high time this has happened,” said Siobhan Hayes-Keane, 17, of Boston Arts Academy. “Schools get locked down all the time. It happens far too often here and a lot of people don’t realize (it). It’s guns inside schools, outside, shots fired. It happens too often.”
Massachusetts has the nation’s lowest rate of gun deaths and some of the strictest gun laws, but students called on legislators for more — such as the so-called “red flag” law to let household members petition courts to temporarily remove guns from people who pose risks. They also pushed for state leaders to boost education spending for mental health programs.
The local march was backed by the Boston Teachers Union. The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence hosted an advocacy training session for students. The youth activism stunned local legislators.
“I’m blown away but not surprised,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain). “Your sight is so clear. Your moral voice, your moral authority is so needed. I ask you to stick with us and keep pushing us over the weeks to come.”
