Students at a central Florida high school staged a walk-out on Friday to show their support for the Second Amendment.
Some 75 high schoolers were involved in the protest, which was organized as a result of students feeling silenced after the recent Parkland shooting became “political,” according to WFTV.
Fox News reported that the group from Rockledge High School marched along the school’s track with American flags and homemade signs that read “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and “I support the right to bear arms.” Some students also wore “Make America Great Again” hats and camouflage clothing.
Anna Delaney, a junior and protest organizer at Rocklege, told WFTV: “I’m pro-Second Amendment. I wouldn’t mind deeper background checks, of course, but the Second Amendment will not be infringed upon.”
Another student, Chloe Deaton, who helped Delaney organize the event, said: “We were built on certain rights and that was one of the original rights, that we should have the right to bear arms. I’m just saying that we should not let our rights be taken because someone else does something wrong.”
The Rockledge High School Second Amendment rally comes less than two weeks after the widely covered March for Our Lives event on March 24, a pro-gun control rally organized by students where people voiced their displeasure over the current state of gun violence in the U.S.
Protests and walk-outs were held, with Parkland shooting survivors leading the way with the hopes that lawmakers might be more willing to introduce stricter gun legislation following a multitude of mass shootings in the U.S. over the past months.
As a result of the gun reform movement, President Donald Trump has been expressed his openness to change, aiming to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of bump stocks. However, some gun reform proponents stress that such a move is not enough. Many individuals leading the movement want to see even stricter background checks, longer waiting periods for purchasing firearms, an assault weapons ban or a complete repeal of the Second Amendment.
With much of the talk focused on gun violence and reform, the students marching in favor of the Second Amendment at Rockledge High School made a point that not everyone is on board with sweeping changes that may infringe on one’s Constitutional rights.
Speaking about the recent media attention surrounding gun rights, junior Zachary Schneider explained that: “It’s all over the news right now that all students hate guns. I wanted to show that not all students feel that way.”
