Over 200 Community students took a stand against gun legislation on April 5, walking out of their 5th-hour classes and gathering in the school’s bus lane at noon.

The demonstration was part of a national campaign organized by Students Demand Action, calling for stricter gun safety laws.

A week after a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, left seven people dead, thousands of students nationwide participated in the walkout. 

According to a statement issued by Students Demand Action, the goal was to demand lawmakers meet “the moment with urgency and pass common-sense policies to save lives.”

At the time of the event, at least 39 incidents of gunfire on school grounds had occurred nationally in 2023, resulting in 17 deaths and 30 injuries.

Since 1999, more than 349,000 students have experienced gun violence at school. 

Gun violence is a familiar issue on Community’s campus where a student discharged a firearm into a classroom ceiling in September of 2012.  

 Over a decade later, it remains an issue for the school’s students.

In 2022 alone, over 6000 children were victims of gun violence.

A census that senior Amber Hitchens believes doesn’t tell the full story.

“There were the families involved, there were the friends that were involved,” Hitchens said, “they’re still hurting.” 

Young people, according to Students Demand Action, are disproportionately impacted by gun violence–firearms are the number one killer of children, teens and college-aged youth in America.

More than 400 teens and children have been killed due to gun violence this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.

Freshman Ava Keenan saw the walkout as an empowering way for students to bring attention to the issue. 

“Enough is enough,” Keenan said. “Save kids, not guns.”