PORTLAND, Ore. — They came out at noon — not for a lunch break, but to march. Students from Lincoln High School carried signs and chanted: “What do we want?" "Gun control." "When do we want it?" "Now!" in a call-and-response as they made their way downtown.
At Terry Schrunk Plaza, the Lincoln students joined other students, including middle schoolers from the private Northwest Academy school in Portland. Their mission, they said, was to be heard on gun violence — to call out the National Rifle Association, gun manufacturers and lawmakers.
“Why have you not taken action? Why do you only care that it should be your right to own a gun? Why do you not care that it should be our right to live?”
That, from a 12-year-old.
Portland students join national walkout over gun violence
Another young voice had this to say: “I believe every place should be a safe place and no one deserves to die, especially at a young age, from a gun by some psychopath that wants to just go around and kill children.”
Fear is a unifying force and the students, the kids, were unified. They were also angry that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for people their age.
The following students stood up to speak to the crowd of their peers. We did not ask them for their names, but we heard their words:
“Five dead in Texas, 20 dead in Florida and I fear my family could be next.”
“We don't deserve to have to worry about this, we don't deserve to die at the hands of terrible people.”
“And that is why we act instead of standing back and assuming someone else is going to do it for us? Instead of assuming there is nothing we can do, we must act because otherwise nothing gets done.”
There were many cheers and acts of consolation. After about a half hour of speeches, the students set off to march and spread their concerns about gun violence in downtown Portland.
The group of at least 200 students marched the blocks around the downtown Justice Center and federal courthouse, keeping up their message that gun violence in schools — or anywhere else in the U.S., for that matter — is out of control. Those messages were delivered with urgency as the students continued on to Portland City Hall, where they stopped to rally once more.
