By: Keturah Tobias
March for Our Lives, a student organization hosted a protest in support of gun control legislation on Apr. 3, at the Tennessee State Capitol in the wake of the Covenant School shooting.
The Covenant School shooting occurred on Mar. 23 in Nashville where three 9-year-old students were fatally shot along with three adults.
Students in surrounding areas of Nashville were encouraged to meet at the Capitol by 10:45 a.m., in doing so students were directed to walk out of class on Apr. 3, at 10:13 a.m., to commemorate the time that the police received the report of the shooting.
Young activists, survivors, and families of shooting victims took turns speaking below the steps of the Capitol building the morning of the event, including Sharon Hurt.
Hurt will be running for mayor of Nashville and will be on the ballot on August 3rd this year. She spoke during the protest, strongly encouraging the people of Nashville to vote for a change.
“I don’t believe that a regular citizen should be able to acquire such weaponry and they don’t have a license, they don’t have training, they don’t even have the compassion to ensure our citizens are safe,” said Hurt.
Additional speakers at the protest include Michael Eric Dyson, an American academic, author, radio host, ordained minister, and a professor in the College of Arts and Science and in the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University.
As well as Nashville pediatrician Kelsey Gastineau. “I have seen that no action has been taken. Half of the deaths for kids for firearm injuries happen in the South,” said Gastineau. “I knew I had to use my voice as a pediatrician to make sure we are always thinking about kids. And then I found out in residency I took care of way too many kids with firearm injuries…Nobody tells us and prepares us for firearm injuries.”
Some students returned to the Capitol later that evening at around 4 p.m. to continue the protest inside.
March for Our Lives will continue to schedule protests against gun violence.
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