Click play to listen to the pro-gun control chants ring through the streets of Downtown Iowa City on Monday afternoon.
After 4th period on Monday, students met in front of the school for a walkout. The walkout is in protest of recent lawmaker’s response to gun violence across the state. These laws came to light on Thursday, Jan. 4, when a gunman opened fire at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. A sixth grader was killed, and many were injured.
Perry is around two hours away from West High and right outside of Des Moines, where a new legislative session started on Jan. 8. Protesters are hoping that lawmakers will make tighter gun laws throughout the state. According to Everytown, Iowa currently ranks 31st in the country for strongest gun laws. Currently, the state of Iowa does not require a permit to purchase a gun, as well as many other “relaxed” laws.
The protest was organized by March for Our Lives, an organization founded by survivors of the Parkland School shooting in 2018. Their mission is to “create safe and healthy communities and livelihoods where gun violence is obsolete.” March for Our Lives used social media such as Instagram to get the message out to schools around the state and help people who were interested in participating.
This issue is very important to high schoolers, as many teenagers and young adults have grown up with school shootings being a common story when you turn on the news; according to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 188 school shootings in 2021, in the year 2000 there were 23.
“I have been protesting for gun control and doing walkouts since Parkland in fifth grade, my class organized a walkout,” said City High junior Yaffa Roarick when asked why this cause was important to her.
The protest started with West High students sharing their fears about attending school, as well as personal stories on how gun violence has affected many teenagers’ lives. Over 100 students showed up to protest at the Old Capitol. The City High protest made its way towards the Old Capitol, where West High students were already gathered, and more students shared their thoughts on the recent situation.
Liberty High also held a protest at their school, along with other schools all over the state. Many Des Moines area schools went to the Capitol to meet with and protest lawmakers on the first day of the new session. Thousands of students showed up across the state to make their voices heard. “Your voice makes a difference; you being here makes a difference; some people don’t get to use their voice anymore, like the 11-year-old boy who was shot; he doesn’t ever get to use his voice again. ” said West High junior Genna Ray.
