Opinion: You should be here
March 21, 2018
Photo Credit: Olivia Doro
On Saturday, March 24, Denver will be hosting its own branch of the nationwide March for Our Lives in Civic Center Park. The march was initially proposed by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the wake of a shooting there on February 14, and has grown to encompass an entire movement. The official March for Our Lives page lists 720 individual events that are planned, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to turn out to show that they will not stand for the gun violence that has plagued American schools for years.
Fort Collins is in a unique position, as it is hosting its own march in Old Town Square. In addition, though, a partnership between the nonprofit Fort Collins for Progress and the same students who planned the student walkout on February 27 has worked to find sponsors. Thanks to Everytown for Gun Safety and a variety of anonymous donors, every single student, parent, and community member who wants to attend the Denver march can take a free bus there and back. Anyone who wants to sign up can do so here; the pickup location for Fort Collins will be Traut Elementary at 11:30 a.m.
I know that we’re busy. High school students are trying to balance good grades and homework assignments, friend drama and relationships, and the sports, instruments, and causes they love. However, history is being made here. Our generation will go down in the books as the ones who stood up against gun violence, the ones who walked out, the ones who used their voices over and over until things got better. If there is any way that you can be free on Saturday, I promise that you won’t regret getting on the bus to Denver and showing the world that the constant school shootings are unacceptable. You’ll find yourself among thousands of others who are scared, angry, and ultimately hopeful. You’ll find your life touched by the idea of fighting for a cause that affects us all. You’ll find a little more love, a little more compassion, and a little more hope. You should be here.
- • Mar 26, 2018 at 11:03 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvAbophptmM
Kyle Mary • Mar 22, 2018 at 10:43 am
I believe that all these “walkouts” in schools are just a media propaganda campaign on behalf of gun control. One of the problems here is that these lefties propaganda centers called our public schools that are taught by teachers who are members of teachers unions that are democratic party cronies. It almost seemed like teachers were okay with the walkout. How many teachers would get mad if tomorrow there was a pro 2nd Amendment walkout?
Austrie Law • Mar 23, 2018 at 7:48 am
In response to “What if tomorrow there was a pro 2nd amendment walkout?”, that wouldn’t be necessary because they 2nd amendment has not been taken away from you. If you think that these walkouts are about removing guns in general, you are sorely mistaken. There are many ways that we a society use guns, and these guns are used to protect. But the main reason for these walkouts is to remove more extreme guns from the general public, or make them harder to get. No 18 year old in the United States has a valid reason to own an AR-15, but for sport or hunting. An AR-15 is not a hunting gun, and America has yet to show that we have the responsibility to allow that kind of freedom.
Kyle Mary • Mar 23, 2018 at 12:13 pm
What is your definition of “extreme gun”? I also believe lefties in the media have been targeting a specific gun to be sinister. The AR-15 has .223 caliber bullet. There are multiple guns that have bigger calibers then the AR-15 and they have no questions going towards them. Its just sad some unreliable news networks have been feeding the public with false information, such as “High stopping power”, “Automatic weapons”, etc. It’s just wrong and complete nonsense. No Automatic weapons are allowed on the public market except with Class 3 licensing for it. Every weapon available to the public is semi-automatic, including pistols, hunting rifles, shotguns, and regulatory assault rifles.
Please look up facts • Mar 23, 2018 at 12:31 pm
I hope you realize that the AR-15 is one of the most commonly used hunting rifles for sport in america used, it was never designed in the first place to kill people its just that the leftist media thinks it looks like a military grade weapon so they are scared of it. The AR-15 uses the same bullets as most hunting rifles and is not any more dangerous when it comes to firepower then some handguns even.
Kayman Riley • Mar 23, 2018 at 1:43 pm
Just to provide some general education about the shooting at Parkland just to remind everyone what measures could have been taken to prevent it.
1. The Student Resource Officer stood outside, instead of going inside to attempt to stop the shooter like he was required by his job to do. He also instructed other first responders to stay out of the school. If he had attempted to engage the shooter, he could have stopped and killed the shooter before the shooter claimed any more lives. This is one way that the government failed.
2. The FBI ignored 9 separate calls that related to the mental health of the shooter and that he was a potential school shooter. This is a failure of the federal government multiple times that could have prevented this shooter. The Broward County Sherrif’s Department also took and ignored 22 seperate 911 calls that directly related to the shooter! 22 separate occasions that there could have been a response. However, this government failed yet again. This is a failure of government at every level. Even though there were already restrictions in place.
3. The AR-15 is not an assault weapon. It is a style of rifle, and it is roughly similar to virtually every single other semi-automatic rifle. There are millions of these guns in the United States, and the vast majority of citizens are responsible gun owners. Also, the Parkland shooter obtained his guns completely legally, with parental supervision even. His parents were not aware to the full extent he was buying guns and ammunition, but it was all legally purchased.
4. Because it was legally purchased, and he had no priors, he would have passed every background check. Virtually the only solution gun-control-wise that would have prevented the situation would be a complete gun buy-back like was done in Australia, with the elimination of privately owned firearms. Which would be completely ludicrous in the United States, due to people’s desires to own firearms for self defense and because of the sheer amount of guns in the United States. They are, to an extent, a part of American culture and life in many places, and people would not give them up willing. Especially law-abiding citizens who are not deeply mentally disturbed and have no plans to shoot up a school.
5. Based on that evidence, the parties that were most at fault in the Parkland shooting was the government, and the shooter himself. No question. The shooter was clearly mentally disturbed and should have been receiving help. And, the government should have intervened. It was a failure of government. 17 lives could have been saved. But it was a failure of government. So, the solution should be to take the government out of this issue. Because they failed, and it cost lives.
People have been getting involved in these pro gun-control walkouts and marches because they want to save lives. So does everyone else. The media has been portraying this as the event of the decade, and has been treating it as a common sense, non-partisan issue. Before you go to to one of these marches, realize that it is simply a ploy to get you to support a political agenda. Be careful of what you read, and make sure to educate yourself on the issues before spouting nonsensical information. Good day.
Kyle Mary • Mar 23, 2018 at 2:37 pm
I agree with you Kayman.
h • Mar 23, 2018 at 9:14 am
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