Students at small private Charlotte school walk out of class, protest gun violence

Austin Redmond walked out of his school Wednesday — even though classes were still in session.

The 14-year-old believes with every extra step he can take against gun violence, people will get the message.

“It’s important to always push,” said Austin, an eighth-grader at uptown Charlotte’s Trinity Episcopal School. “There hasn’t been enough done about gun violence. If enough people retaliate and protest then maybe something will finally be done.”

Dozens of Trinity’s fifth- through eighth-grade students took part in a national student walkout over gun violence following the deadly shooting of six people at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, last week, including three students.

Students from across the state and country were expected to participate in Students Demand Action walkouts, calling on lawmakers to take action on gun safety.

“Killing children has become way too repetitive to make it almost normalized,” Austin said. “It needs to stop right now.”

Students led Trinity’s walkout and delivered speeches. Tessa Fulcher, 14, hopes both resonate because students are going to school “fearing they might get killed each day.

“It’s really important that we make our voices heard because we are the future,” the eighth-grader said.

Trinity stands out

For Austin, Tessa and about 45 other Trinity eighth-graders, their call for action didn’t end Wednesday.

Trinity is sending them to Washington, D.C., in May to lobby lawmakers and policy think tanks, among other groups.

Students have spent the entire year researching community issues like gun safety, meeting with local groups and officials, and coming up with issues they want to advocate for, Trinity spokesman Chris Miller told The Charlotte Observer.

“Service learning is a cornerstone of a Trinity education,” Miller said. “We see the walkout as an extension of that service learning as students use their voices.”

Students have been studying different issues surrounding gun violence, such as background checks and permitless carry states. They’ll take what they’ve learned, go to Washington, D.C., and argue with politicians, Austin said.

“We’ll be meeting with different politicians who agree and disagree with the bill that we’ll be supporting,” Austin said. “They’ll talk to us. It’s just a great experience to learn how to advocate for ourselves.”

‘I’ve had enough’

Tessa said the class chose gun violence and safety because of so many school shootings.

So far this year, there have been at least 39 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 17 deaths and 30 injuries nationally, according to Every Town for Gun Safety.

“(It’s become) sort of a thing that you shrug off and oh well, that’s sad,” Tessa said. “Time and time again and I’ve had enough.”

Trinity, a small, private K-8 Christian school with an enrollment of 440, similar to the size of The Covenant School, keeps its safety and security measures confidential. Miller said school leaders assess security throughout the year, “not only in times such as these.”

CMS encourages talk

Students Demand Action is a national initiative that began in 2016 as a pilot program, according to its website. It started within two weeks of the Parkland, Florida, shooting where a gunman shot and killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Students Demand Action has more than 600 groups across the country, including North Carolina, and active volunteers in every state. Advocates called for the walk out Wednesday to demand action on gun safety.

Vicki Grooms, a spokeswoman with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, told the Observer the district was aware of talks about a national student walkout over gun control, and acknowledged a planned walkout at Garinger High. Safety and security measures were put in place to ensure the walkout was without incident, Grooms said.

Grooms said the district supports students who want to advocate for causes that are important to them, and school officials try to work with students to “find creative ways to do so while at school.”

District officials said they encourage students to have conversations with their families about how they may be feeling about recent acts of violence in schools, and the importance of expressing themselves in appropriate ways at school.

‘We do not have to live this way’

Last month, North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that eliminates the longstanding permit system requiring sheriffs to perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants.

Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warn that the plan allows a greater number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales, which do not require a background check, and limits law enforcement’s ability to prevent them from committing violent crimes.

CMS board member Jennifer De La Jara, during a school board meeting Tuesday, called the decision to make accessing firearms easier “unconscionable” on the heels of what happened in Nashville.

De La Jara was in East Mecklenburg High School on Monday when there was a lockdown and a fear of a potential firearm.

“I could see the parents banging on the doors of the building and my own kids texting wondering what was going on,” De La Jara said, breaking down in tears. “We do not have to live this way.”