Students Walk Out From Their Schools to Support the Second Amendment!

In Woodland Park, Colorado, students held another walkout last Wednesday. However, this time it was to support the Second Amendment, and it was done to counter rallies happening all over the country that calls for stricter gun control after the school shooting that took place at a high school in Florida back in February.

Guns Aren’t the Real Problem

The pro-Second Amendment students, who attended Woodland Park High School, held the rally for only 30 minutes, which began with a moment of silence for the victims of past school shootings. Despite acknowledging these tragic events, the students firmly believe that a stricter control of firearms is not the answer to preventing these mass shootings.

Haley Armstead, one of the protesters says that the root cause of shootings isn’t these inanimate objects. These people are just trying to put the blame on these guns when they, themselves, are the real culprit behind these mass shootings. If a person intends to harm another person, he or she will find a way to do so. Christian Garcia, another student who also attended the rally opined that trained teachers and armed officers would stop more school shootings from happening.

Back to Back Rallies

James Madison was the most famous framer of the Second Amendment.

The local police department provided extra security during the walkout as the students were sanctioned to hold the rally by the school district, despite the student-organized movement not being affiliated with the high school. A similar rally was held in Central Florida, and it was also organized by students. This rally was held days prior to the Colorado walkout, and it took place due to the students feeling silenced after the movement to honor the gunned down victims of Parkland devolved into a political debate.

A student protester from the Central Florida protest, Anna Delaney, says that she would not mind stricter background checks as long as the Second Amendment is not infringed upon.

Guns Don’t Kill People. People do.

Zachary Schneider wants to emphasize that “not all students hate guns. He himself loves guns, but he intends to use it for goodwill, not to spread terror all over the country.

Colorado students circled the track in their high school while brandishing the American flag and signs bearing slogans like, “I support the right to bear arms,” and “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Some students also participated to show that not all students around the country are in agreement when it comes to having a tighter leash on gun ownership.

What Ignited the Blaze?

On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz was able to smuggle an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle into his former school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he was expelled from prior to the shooting. On that Valentines Day, he killed 17 people and injured 17 more, which makes the Parkland Shooting one of the deadliest school massacres of all time.

Though differing in opinion, one thing that both sides do agree upon is that school shootings, or mass shootings in general, need to be put to a stop, and the sooner that something is done in order for that to happen, the better.

Last month, Cruz was sentenced on multiple counts of murder as well as over a dozen in attempted murder. The weeks following the school shooting saw students all over the country holding a National Walkout Day which pushes for stricter gun laws in order to prevent tragedies like this from happening. Two weeks ago, March for Our Lives was organized, and thousands of people around the country rallied.

The Debate Goes on…

On the 15th of December, 1791, the Supreme Court of the United States adopted the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution which protects the right of the people to bear arms. Since then, there have been many people spanning across dozens of generations who argued back and forth on the safety of the nation if everyone has the right to hold guns.

The Colorado walkout was simply the latest in a back to back volley of people marching in order to announce their beliefs on whether gun control should be further emphasized or if it should stay as it is. So far, there has been no end in sight to this argument, and we are sure to see many more marches and rallies from both sides in order to further their agenda.