Michigan students protest to end gun violence through nationwide March For Our Lives movement

Hundreds marched Saturday morning — many in blue March For Our Lives and orange Oxford Strong T-shirts — from Centennial Park in Oxford to the high school where four students were fatally shot.

"It should not be our job to march for sensible change that has not occurred seven months after our school shooting," said Dylan Morris, an Oxford High senior and march organizer. "Our mission today is to push legislators to enact sensible gun laws, safe storage, numerous background checks, red flag laws."

The demonstration, part of a larger national effort to end gun violence, aimed to draw attention to gun violence, particularly a rash of mass killings in schools and elsewhere, and urge policymakers to take action.

Marchers hold signs and chant as they move from Centennial Park in Oxford on their way to Oxford High School and back for the March For Our Lives Oxford event on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Students, teachers and parents shared their stories of loss following the shooting at the school and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again. When the crowd reached the high school, it held a moment of silence to honor and remember the teens who were gunned down, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.

In all, about 300 rallies were slated to take place Saturday in cities across the nation, including one of the largest in Washington D.C., where more than 40,000 people were expected.

In Michigan, students, parents, grandparents, teachers and officials gathered for marches in Oxford and other communities — including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Port Huron, Waterford and Traverse City — to call for stricter gun laws and share their frustrations and fears.

In Oxford, where emotions are still especially raw, several speakers fought back tears as they talked about that had happened there, and what they hoped would happen to prevent more deaths.

There were a few challenges to the protesters. At one point during speeches in Oxford, someone booed but the crowd booed back and the speaker — Linda Watson, whose son Aiden was among the seven students injured in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High, along with a teacher — responded: "Are you done? We’re not."

Jill Soave, left, the mother of slain Oxford High School student Justin Shilling, takes a moment of reflection after she placed flowers at a sign at the entrance to the school after a moment of silence as they arrive at Oxford High School during the March For Our Lives Oxford event on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Students, teachers and parents shared their stories of loss following the shooting at the school and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again. When the crowd reached the high school, it held a moment of silence to honor and remember the teens who were gunned down, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.

Organizers of the Oxford demonstration read a list of deadly school shootings, with the crowd chanting together, after each one, "What now?" They chanted: "No more silence, end gun violence" and "Protect our kids, protect our schools."

When the crowd reached the high school, it held a moment of silence to honor and remember the teens who were gunned down — Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.

Changing policy, minds?

It remains to be seen how much the second national March For Our Lives will persuade elected officials, candidates and voters opposed to more gun laws — or change public policy.

Still, for many, the marches offered a chance to talk about fears.

The first March For Our Lives was in 2018, following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 14 students and three school employees dead.

By one count, more than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since two seniors killed a dozen students and a teacher at Columbine High in Colorado in 1999.

In the latest high-profile school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, 19 students and two teachers were killed, prompting yet another national outcry in which President Joe Biden said he believed "the Second Amendment, like all other rights, is not absolute."

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In Detroit — where just hours earlier, there was a quadruple nonfatal shooting in the 13500 block of Cloverlawn — more than 500 people, including families with grandparents and young children, marched.

As the crowd passed the GM world headquarters, marchers chanted, "Not one more."

Many also expressed their sentiments through T-shirt messages.

Chip Garner, of Wyandotte, carries an American flag as he joins marchers who hold signs and chant as they leave the Detroit riverfront on Saturday, June 11, 2022, as they march in the March for Our Lives Detroit event. Speakers came to the microphone one by one and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again.

One man wore a shirt spattered with fake blood that said, "Thoughts and prayers." Others held signs that crossed out "thoughts and prayers," replacing it with "policy and change."

Birdie Nash, of Harrison Township, said she is a worried grandma who wanted to support the young protest organizers and urge change. She added that she believes the protests are important.

"My God, when we are going to stop? Where will it stop?" she said, expressing frustration with officials who "pretend that they are going to do something."

"I am tired of crying over what's going on, all the killing, racism and killing babies."

Joseph Kesto, 18, of Sterling Heights, was a Detroit march organizer who headed to the rally in Washington, D.C.

Vika Vantram, of Heartland, left, holds a sign as his wife, Joanna, a teacher for the Howell Public Schools system records speakers as people fill Detroit's riverfront on Saturday, June 11, 2022, as they listen to speakers and march in the March for Our Lives Detroit event. Speakers came to the microphone one by one and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again.

The Michigan State University student told the Free Press via phone the rally in the nation's capital was so moving it brought him to tears. It seems like every day there's "another mass shooting and people care for two or three days and then it's on to the next mass shooting."

"We want," he added, "to put an end to all of that."

Students living in fear

In Ann Arbor, children wore T-shirts that said, among other things, "We can end gun violence" and "Enough. Protect kids no guns." Adults on hand said they had experienced gun violence growing up and now worried about their kids.

The crowd there chanted: "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go."

The National Rifle Association is a gun owners' group that defends and lobbies for gun rights.

During the protest, Ari Funk, 16, a local high school student, raised another concern about guns and gun accessibility: the large number of people who use them to take their own lives.

"About two years ago exactly, I was considering killing myself," Funk said, her voice shaking. "The only reason that I'm still here today is because my aunt had the common sense to keep her guns locked up."

Funk added: "I just wanted to point out that these gun laws may not make sense to everybody and may sound like they don't matter, but I know from my personal experience, that they matter so much."

Claudia Swenson, a rising junior at Plymouth High School, told protesters in Ann Arbor about a recent school lockdown. She described hearing her principal's voice shake while making the announcement over the intercom system.

"I thought I was going to die," Swenson, 16, told the crowd.

Swenson said her teachers told students they can't live in fear of school shootings. But, she said: "How are we not supposed to be afraid when we know this can happen to our school, too?"

When she exited the stage, she hugged her mom.

Politicians speak out

In Lansing, about 500 people gathered, demanding lawmakers pass stricter gun laws.

Speakers there included several Michigan Democrats, among them Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow; U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, of Holly; state Rep. Sarah Anthony, of Lansing; and state Sen. Curtis Hertel, of East Lansing.

Whitmer, who spoke with her daughter standing at her side, advocated for gun-storage laws, universal background checks, more mental health professionals and investing in school buildings and programs.

The day of the Oxford High School shooting and those that followed were among her worst as governor, she said. When parents send their children to school, Whitmer added, they’re sending a piece of themselves and are trusting they’ll come home safe.

"Doing nothing is not acceptable," Whitmer told the crowd. "It’s unconscionable to continue doing the same thing and think things are going to get better. We cannot forget. We cannot look away. We cannot check out."

Neelufar Jaberi, an Okemos High School senior and co-captain of the Lansing chapter of March For Our Lives, said she’s tired of lockdown drills and the fear that her school will be next to have a shooting.

She said she doesn't want to have an escape plan in each of her classrooms, a plan of what to do if a shooter walks in.

Jaberi was 7 when 20 kids and six adults were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. Now 17, she sees a new generation of children being traumatized by school shootings.

"I feel all the rage in me building," Jaberi said, noting that nothing has been done since the Sandy Hook massacre. "I get so angry and frustrated that politicians can look the other way and let this happen."

A youth-led movement

The March For Our Lives group, which is taking donations online, calls itself a "youth-led movement dedicated to promoting civic engagement, education, and direct action by youth to eliminate the epidemic of gun violence."

In the first March for Our Lives in 2018, hundreds of thousands of protesters  participated in more than 800 rallies from New York to Los Angeles.

Alexandra Aris, 16, center, will be a senior in the 2023 class at Clarkston High School, carries a sign along with marchers as they march in the March For Our Lives Oxford event on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Students, teachers and parents shared their stories of loss following the shooting at the school and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again. When the crowd reached the high school, it held a moment of silence to honor and remember the teens who were gunned down, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.

At the time, the demonstrations were called the most ambitious student-driven show of force seeking gun restrictions and organizers hoped it would be be a tipping point in the gun reform debate.

Since then, however, there have been nearly 30 school shootings with injuries and deaths, including Oxford High and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, and in a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll nearly 4 in 10 Americans said they, or a loved one, had been a victim of gun violence.

The telephone poll was taken of 1,063 adults between May 31 and June 6. The results were statistically significant by plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

"Recent mass shootings have, again, put the debate about gun safety on the table for decision-makers," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "One side calls for greater gun restrictions while the other believes it is a mental health issue."

But the poll also found that public opinion may be somewhat shifting: 59% of American adults think it is more important to control gun violence, compared with 35% who believe it is more important to protect gun rights.

Seven in 10 adults, the poll found, said recent school shootings will make them more likely to vote in November, and many also said they are more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who backs gun reform measures.

A decades-long debate

The right to "keep and bear arms" is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, but what that means, and whether there are limits to it, especially as weapons have become more powerful, has been debated for decades.

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 — named after James Brady, the White House press secretary who was shot during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan — established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

In 2016, President Barack Obama wept as he talked about gun control and mentioned mass school shootings, specifically the 2012 shooting in Newtown that killed 20 children.

But gun massacres have continued.

Reflected in some of the Oxford Strong signs in business windows in downtown Oxford, marchers carry signs and chant as they march in the March For Our Lives Oxford event on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Students, teachers and parents shared their stories of loss following the shooting at the school and demanded that lawmakers enact gun control laws to keep these tragedies from happening again. When the crowd reached the high school, it held a moment of silence to honor and remember the teens who were gunned down, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.

In Oxford, authorities charged 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley as an adult with murder and terrorism, and charged his parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, with manslaughter for failing to secure the handgun he used.

Legal thinkers pointed out that charging the parents could signal a legal trend.

The families of the teens who were killed in Oxford also are suing the school district, claiming  that school officials ignored all of the warning signs and could have done more to prevent the shooting.

Michigan Democrats tried to vote on bills in the state House and Senate to exempt gun safety devices from taxes and clarify gun storage rules and punishments for adults who let them fall into children's hands.

The Republican majority blocked the maneuver.

And this past week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted, mostly on partisan lines, to pass gun control legislation called the Protecting Our Kids Act, in the face of public pressure.

Among other things, the package of bills calls for raising the age to buy certain semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21 and new offenses for gun trafficking and selling large-capacity magazines.

Five Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, of St. Joseph, voted for the proposed legislation and two Democrats against it.

The bills, however,  are not expected to pass in the Senate, where there is GOP opposition.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan students protest to end gun violence through nationwide march