Students in the Boston area marched on the streets to bring awareness to recent calls for gun control despite closures at many schools in the area due to a snowstorm.
Although some schools opted to move their walkout protests to Thursday due to closures on Wednesday, many students in the Boston area trekked out into the snow to pay tribute to the 17 people that died in the February 14 Parkland, Florida, high school shooting. The march primarily aimed to highlight recent calls for gun control in the wake of recent school shootings.
Charlotte Lowell, the student organizer of several walkouts in Massachusetts, told The Hill that the movement would not be silenced by the weather.
“This movement is not dissuaded by a snowstorm,” Lowell said. “We’re hardy Massachusetts students, and we’ll brave the snow in order to speak out about what matters to us.”
Student protesters flooded the Massachusetts State House in the Beacon Hill neighborhood in Boston. They came equipped with different signs. Messages included “What is my life worth to you?” and “Never Again.”
The protests weren’t limited to high school students. Hundreds of students and faculty members at the Boston University School of Medicine participated in the national walkout effort.
Sara Holmstrom, who participated in the Boston University demonstration, said that she views gun control as a public health concern. “This is a bipartisan and nonpartisan issue,” Holmstrom said. “I have no political agenda here. My only goal is to prevent injuries and deaths from gun violence.”
A local Boston radio host highlighted that gun violence is rare in Massachusetts. “Incidents of gun violence are relatively rare in Massachusetts. Around 50 public school students are disciplined annually for carrying a firearm. But most of the confiscated weapons are air rifles or toys,” Max Larkin explained.