By KURTIS RATTAY
Eleven-year-old Christopher Lane will never forget the day his mother picked him up from school with tears in her eyes—the day 20 children and six adults were killed at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. That’s part of the reason Christopher plans to join New York City’s “March for Our Lives,” one of several nation-wide protests set for March 24.
“Today those innocent children of gun violence from Sandy Hook Elementary would have been my age,” Christopher said Thursday on the steps of City Hall. “But because a crazed person had access to a weapon of war, those children never got the chance to see today.”
The nation-wide marches and school walk-outs organized by student activists and parents fed up with gun violence come after the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, which left 15 students and two teachers dead. Presumably, the Florida shooting was the last straw for the nation’s anti-gun activists.
“We demand that they pass a law banning assault weapons and the sale of high-capacity magazines and closing the loopholes on background checks that allow dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms to slip through the cracks,” Christopher said.
New York’s “March for Our Lives” will meet on West 72nd street and Central Park West at 10 a.m., before marching south to 43rd street, said a Columbia Law student helping organize the event. The march will end with a rally led by students and anti-gun activists who have survived gun violence, he said. Organizers expect a turnout of about 30,000.
“School safety is not a political issue,” March for Our Lives NYC said on Facebook. “There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing.”
New York City high schoolers also acted to demand gun reform by joining the nation-wide school walkouts on Wednesday—exactly one month after Parkland students fled bullets from an AR-15. The city’s participating students have the respect of Mayor Bill de Blasi0
“If I was a high school student today I would be walking out, there is no question about it,” said de Blasio at a press conference last month. “The current leadership in Washington has not protected our young people and they have every right to stand up.”
March for Our Lives thanked city for accommodating the event, and the police department for helping with security.
“I’m marching in honor of the lives lost not just in Newtown, not just in Parkland, Orlando, Las Vegas or Sutherland Springs,” Christopher said. “I’m marching for the effect of gun violence on America.”
Photo of Christopher Lane by Kurtis Rattay
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