Chanting for gun-law reform and reduced firearm violence, an estimated 2,000-plus students marched to City Hall Friday morning as part of nationwide school walkouts.
The Houston Youth Walkout, believed to be the largest local out-of-class gathering to mark the April 20 protests, attracted students from across the region for a 1.2-mile march. They joined thousands of students from Greater Houston who demonstrated at their schools Friday morning, advocating for changes to gun laws and honoring victims of gun violence.
“To see so many students from different high schools come together brought tears to my eyes,” said Elena Margolin, a march organizer and senior at Houston ISD’s High School For The Performing And Visual Arts. “We realize we’re all in it together and all fighting for the same cause.”
School districts across the area prepared for demonstrations Friday, with many campus principals coordinating plans with students. They sought to balance free-speech rights with student safety and orderly continuation of classes.
Several demonstrations remained indoors, with students leading assemblies or rallies in gymnasiums, while others stayed confined to school grounds.
In recent days, students and campus principals across the region have been coordinating walkout events, as school districts try to minmize disruptions and safety concerns associated with walkouts. Several districts said they had empowered principals to allow events on campus grounds, encouraging them to speak with student organizers in advance.
See here for the group’s webpage, and here for their Instagram feed. There were similar events elsewhere in the state – see the Trib and the Rivard Report for other stories. April 20 was the 19th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, in case you were wondering what significance there was to the date. I appreciate the approach that school administrators took to this – no one appears to have overreacted in some ridiculous way – and hope that’s a model for events like this going forward. Next up, registering and voting for candidates that will listen to what these students are saying, and against those who won’t. Keep it going, kids.
Just a bunch of kids perfectly willing to take away other people’s rights so they can think they are “doing something”. This is a major flaw in progressive thinking – that “something has to be done” to resolve every issue, and the action must be driven by government. Progressives also fail to understand the visceral reaction that calls for “assault rifle” control creates in a huge number of firearm owners. In their own way, the progressives calling for these actions are as disgusting as the people on the right who resist same sex marriage and other social issues.
I was completely neutral as to whether guns should be regulated, until I read a Houston Press article that said that old white men like to use them to commit suicide.
http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/gun-control-might-cut-down-on-the-number-of-suicides-among-white-males-10368929
@Ross: Spot on!
@Manny: Good, good……let the hate flow through you.
What hate Bill? Are you a libertarian or not? Don’t you believe that people should have the right to decide what to do with their lives?
Manny,
Don’t hold back now. You were ambivalent about gun control until you heard old white people used guns to commit suicide? Have you gotten your NRA membership yet?
Pro tip: Old white people includes or will include many posters on this blog. It definitely includes our parents, if they are still living. It’s nice of you to let them know what you really think of them.
Will you celebrate the death of Kuff’s parents, as an example? Seems like you are in the Oprah “They just have to die.” camp.
The always reasonable “no regulation” crowd can be counted on for their consistent scorn. By demonizing the “something must be done crowd,” you can blindly say any common sense (highly popular) reform is unconstitutional in a way no other right is viewed. Also keep in mind George W. Bush supported the assault weapons ban, and I don’t think he has a progressive membership card.
Another reason why I chose to send my kids to private school.
Manny,
You need to read your posts. Do you really feel that way or are you just saying that for shock value.
@Bill Kelly, if theres a reasonable proposal for regulating so called assault weapons that would actually work, while not infringing on the rights of citizens, I might be able to support it. So far, the proposals are based on some alternate reality that doesn’t match the real world, and deal strictly with appearance. There are also lots of words being wasted telling us that AR type rifles aren’t good for hunting, self defense, or anything except killing people. Thats patently stupid, since they are great for hunting animals like coyotes, are widely used for competitive target shooting, and work well for defense.
Paul, I read my posts, I don’t wish evil or hurt on anyone. But people will be people and believe what they want to believe. Most of my friends are old white men.
Ross, hunting coyotes, do you eat them? I have to admit up until about age 40, I enjoyed killing animals, but I ate everything I killed with a gun, that includes rattle snakes.
A shotgun ( https://www.swatmag.com/article/prepper-special-versatile-pump-shotgun/ ) is the most effective defensive weapon for the home, up until the Uzi it was the preferred weapon for some SWAT units, it still is but the Uzi is just as effective, going into houses where they expected persons to be shooting at them.
Ross shoot at a target that is moving at night with a gun, and tell me how easy it is to hit that target with a rifle. My preferred weapon for defense is made in Texas, https://bondarms.com/ , as a former police officer who never gun an automatic said, if I can him with six bullets I don’t have a reason to be carrying a gun.
who used his revolver, correction
New name for you… ‘Crawfish Manny’ !
The coyotes we shoot are the ones harassing cows at a friend’s ranch. They are usually mangy and sick, which is why they are going after the cows, which is something they normally avoid – a cow can kick coyote butt. So, no, we don’t eat them. We also don’t go out of our way to shoot coyotes, since they are good scavengers, and keep some of the rodents under control.
Shotguns work well up close for home defense, but in a rural area, you want to be able to make a point at a longer distance.