TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (WSVN) - Student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took their calls for gun reform and young voter registration to the state’s capital, but they weren’t the only ones trying to get their message across.
The weekend stop for the March For Our Lives Road to Change Tour took the Parkland students to Tallahassee. Participants outside of the Florida State Capitol cheered and held up signs as they listened to various speakers.
“We’re here to protest the inaction by our lawmakers,” said organizer Alex Wind. “We’re here to empower the youth, and we’re here to lift up the voices of everyone in the Tallahassee community, Parkland community, communities all across Florida.”
The event was part of a national tour this summer aiming to encourage young voters to get informed and make their voices heard in the polls ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Student organizer Kayla Dixon said this is a wake-up call that young people across the country need to hear.
“There’s a lot of kids, school members, peers of my own, friends who don’t feel empowered enough to make a change,” she said.
Organizers said they want everyone to leave knowing where they stand on gun policies and what the future holds.
But the Road to Change rally met with some resistence. Just a block away, gun advocates made their positions heard.
The pro-gun demonstrators also gathered outside the capitol. Participants said they fear the movement that arose in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas is threatening their constitutional right to bear arms.
“We’re here simply just expressing that we have a Second Amendment right, and we appreciate it, and we are going to protect it,” said gun rights protester Robert Burns.
Speakers at the pro-gun rally said they’re worried that restrictions on gun ownership could lead to a ban entirely.
Gun owners said they wish they could find a compromise, but many stand by their right to protect themselves and anyone around them by bearing arms.
“They’ll defend other people who are not carrying. They’d give their lives if they had to, defending for the other people. I know I would,” said gun rights protester Vali Brown.
The Road to Change Tour is expected to continue through the rest of the summer, with upcoming stops in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City and Newtown, Connecticut.
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