Michigan State students call for more legislation on gun violence prevention

LANSING — Dozens of Michigan State University students gathered at the state's Capitol building on Thursday to rally against gun violence in the United States in the wake of the one-year anniversary of the shooting on their campus.

The protest took place exactly a year after one held two days after the mass shooting at MSU to protest inaction by legislators and fight for new laws to prevent future violence.

Speakers acknowledged the work legislators did after Feb. 13, 2023, and the bills impacting background checks and safe storage of firearms that went into effect this month, but called for more to be done.

"I'm grateful for those changes," said Saylor Reinders, co-founder of Students Demand Action at MSU. "I'm also angry that they didn't happen sooner. So today, I stand here again, asking our lawmakers to continue to take action and enact meaningful change."

Reinders said the continued gun violence in the U.S. should motivate those in power to take action.

"In American someone is feeling the weight of losing a loved one to gun violence every day ... 120 Americans die every day from gun violence and guns are the leading cause of death for children, teens, and college-aged Americans."

On Wednesday, 22 people were wounded, including many children, and one person died in Kansas City, Missouri, in a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade.

Also driving the protest was the normalization of children being exposed to the threat of gun violence.

"Raise your hand if you've ever experienced a lockdown drill sometime in your lifetime," said Maya Manuel, founder of student group Sit Down MSU, which organized last year's protest. "Keep your hands up if you have experienced a lockdown drill before the age of 18. The age of 12. The age of six.

"While students are learning their ABCs and multiplication, students are also learning how to run, hide and fight," she said.

The MSU students killed on Feb. 13, Arielle Anderson, Alexandria Verner and Brian Fraser, were remembered by the speakers, along with five others who were wounded. Reinders called for continued activism to keep the memory of the three students and what happened on campus alive.

"While we can never take away their hurt, we can and will honor them with action every single day," she said.

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU students call for more legislation on gun violence prevention