What’s the opposite of a gun: April 20, 2018 #NationalStudentWalkOut

What’s the opposite of a gun?

On Friday April 20, students across the United States will answer that question with a resounding answer:

a walkout.

Because today is the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting that shocked the nation.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to shock us into wresting control of guns from the hands of the NRA and taking actions that would prevent gun violence at schools from happening again — and again — and again.

It seems that it may require teenagers taking to the street to demand change — and by voting change it– to make a change happen.

SEE HOW MUCH NRA-BOUGHT POLITICIANS THINK STUDENT LIVES ARE WORTH IN EACH STATE AND DONATE TO BUY THEM BACK.

March For Our Lives has calculated the price of each student in states across the country, based on the millions of dollars politicians have accepted from the NRA, and created price tags for students to wear.  If a state doesn’t have a price tag, that means that your politicians aren’t taking large sums of NRA money. There’s also a national average price tag (pictured above) to show support for reforming our gun laws.

Today is the third walkout in as many months.

The college where I teach doesn’t have classes on Friday or else I would participate there. I did attend the walkout in Marh 14, and as a family we participated in our local march on March 24.

While I am worried for his safety because I am concerned that a gun enthusiast might take this opportunity to open fire, I am proud that my son plans to walkout today and I will be joining the Ventura area students  at City Hall at noon.

Organizers point out that “Students have strong freedom of speech rights, but school administrators may be concerned about disruption to learning time and could pursue disciplinary action. Depending on your personal judgement and your school norms, you may wish to reach out to teachers or administrators for support. You can also ask a parent or guardian to call the school and advocate on your behalf if your school administration needs more support to work with you. If you aren’t able to walk out, you can still be creative. Show solidarity for the walkout by wearing orange and create posters to show your support. #ENOUGH.”

ENOUGH graphic by Ventura artist MB Hanrahan