A crowd of diverse ages and races came together on the rainy morning of March 24 for the March For Our Lives event, the St. Louis chapter of a national event protesting lax gun law and firearm lobbyists’ political influence.
Fred Scott was one St. Louisan who made his way to the protest, which began at Union Station at 10 am. Scott, who has been involved in protest movements since the 1970s, said he had a simple suggestion for how politicians could help stop gun violence.
“Listen to the children,” Scott said. “Simple as that. Listen to the children.”
Hundreds of cities across the country participated in the March For Our Lives event, which was organized by survivors of a recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Many students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have become advocates for gun control in the wake of the murder of 17 people by a gunman at their school.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas students spoke at the Washington D.C. protest, but many other high schoolers took to the streets in St. Louis. Labrill Collins, a 16-year-old student, attended the march with several of her classmates.
“I am an only girl, but I have three brothers, and they’re all black,” Collins said. “Just to know that there’s already this stigma of black kids just going around the world and to know that there’s guns coming in on top of that, it scares me. If I’m not marching for myself, I’m marching for them.”
Collins’ classmate Bryce Barry said the threat of a school shooting is a very real fear for many St. Louis-area students.
“Politicians need to recognize that we are sick and tired of being afraid in our schools,” Barry said. “So what they need to do is immediate, sensible gun control reforms — like strengthen our background checks, assault rifle ban. They need to do something, because it’s been over 20 years now since Columbine, and they have not done a single thing to try to stop this gun violence in our schools and in our communities.”
Gun laws in Missouri are moving towards becoming more lax, rather than less. After the Parkland shooting, the state legislature briefly delayed but still went forward with a law to allow carrying concealed guns at amusement parks, bars, casinos, churches and day-care centers, as well as on the campuses of colleges and universities if their boards agree.
At the March For Our Lives, many protesters blamed the state’s gun laws on politicians who they see as in the pocket of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the major gun owners’ advocacy group which lobbies for permissive laws. The Center for Responsive Politics found that the NRA is a major donor for Missouri’s Republican officials, including U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and Attorney General Josh Hawley.
Speakers at the event included several high school students, along with state representative Bruce Franks and a survivor of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. The march began with words from Rev. Daryl Gray, a frequent leader in the Ferguson and Stockley verdict protests. Gray lead the crowd in a prayer and a moment of silence.
“Since the Civil Rights movement, there’s never been a struggle that’s been successful without our young people being involved,” Gray said. “When we see our young people on the street, when we see them in harm’s way, we have a tendency to get up and move. Today, people are getting up and they’re moving, because young people are moving us.”
Gray said the students who organized the march made it clear to him that their cause was not exclusive to the Parkland shooting and not only about one race, but included all gun violence in all communities.
Sunny Lu, a 15-year-old year high school student, is helping organize another action for gun reform. Lu is a member of Students Demand Action St. Louis, a coalition of high schoolers who are organizing a protest in front of Hawley’s office in response to his NRA funding. Armed with a clipboard, Lu spent the March For Our Lives event recruiting new members.
The organization planned four action items; one of them, calling for a ban on “bump stocks” which can transform a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic one, is already in progress at the national level. The group is also asking for the minimum age to purchase a weapon to be raised from 18 to 21, for individuals on the no-fly list to be banned from buying guns and for an end to loopholes that allow gun purchases by domestic abusers and purchases at gun shows with no background checks.
“Really, it’s just about advocating for gun reform and asking for someone who’s running for office to hear our cries,” Lu said.
The Students Demand Action protest is planned for April 20, during a nationwide walkout in recognition of the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting.
