After the multiple school shootings, many students are taking part in the National Walkout Day to try and get stricter gun laws. Many people haven’t heard much information on this movement, so hopefully, this paper will better you. This paper will explain what the movement is about, how impacts the conversation on gun laws, who is participating/supporting it, the consequences participants are facing, and people who oppose and their views.
Questions that many people are asking: is this movement good or bad? Is it helping or hurting the fight for stricter gun laws?
This is a movement born from the site that many know called Change.
org. What started as a petition is growing into millions of students across the US walking out of school. The National School Walkout page says “We’re protesting congressional, state, and local failures to take action to prevent gun violence. America is the only country in the world where so many people are killed by guns, and yet our leaders do nothing about it.
In many states, it’s more difficult to register to vote than it is to buy a rifle. Apparently, to some politicians, a vote is scarier than a gun.” There is the question about how this is impacting and there is great questioning by the non-supporters as to if the movement is helping.
There are many supporters but Lane Murdock, who was a sophomore at Ridgefield High School at the time of the founding, is the head of the organization.
She is taking it upon herself f to organize a petition. She decided to start a petition for her school due to the events on the night of the Major Stoneman Douglas massacre. The petition was meant for just her school and suddenly it took to many other schools. Others are helping with the organization of the walkouts, websites, and a voter registration “challenge” that is used to get teens who can vote to support the movement and vote. The movement is backed by Democratic ideas of a ban on assault weapons, a universal background check before the sale of a gun, and Gun Violence restraining laws where the court has the right to restrain firearms from anyone who has shown or is showing signs of violent acts. Others want a more extreme reform for the gun laws that are also included in this movement, but these are the agreed-upon these ideas. The students that support the movement want to feel safe in school. There was great debate among some of the students when Governor Rick Scott passed the law that allows some teachers to be armed.
Some students would rather not walk out, whether it is out of disagreement, disinterest, or wanting slightly different things from the reform. One student from Lapeer High School in Michigan agrees and supports his classmates, ”however, I am not supportive of those who use a tragic event to push their political agendas, such as gun control” he states. People that support the movement but don’t participate and some often say that guns aren’t the problem people are. Some are 100% against reform of any kind. They believe that it’s not anyone person’s fault, it’s a lack of discipline and security in our schools. The executive director of the NRA-ILA shared a recorded message where he said “gun control activists are blaming good honest people for the acts of murderers. Let’s work together to secure our schools and stop school violence. We protect our banks, our sports stadiums, and our government buildings better than we protect our schools. That must change.’
Not only are people against the movement, but schools are taking a stand against the walking out also. Since it is an issue within the school and it involves the school in a major way, it is up to them to participate or prohibit the participation of the walkout. The decision ist is completely up to the school if the students and staff are allowed to participate without punishment. The issue is that participation is taking away from students and their ability to learn due to teachers participating in the walkouts or the students not being in class. Also, there is the issue that the staff and students are constrained from their right to peaceful protesting if you prohibit participation. There are certain things you could argue against the punishment for participating in the walkout. However, it depends on how the protesting happens, the rules the school has, and what the political base of the school is, and that often is related to location. Some rules in the Pawnee City High School’s handbook are: it is against school rules to disrupt school, use offensive language or behavior, commit assault or battery, commit insubordination or disrespect, or use excessive noise. If any of these rules are broken during your walkout then the school has the right to punish you. It’s an Issue wrapped in an enigma in this situation because you have the right to protest peacefully, but it is also a law that you have to attend school.
There are quite a few different views on National Walkout Day. The goal of this paper was to inform you so that you may compose your own opinion. The Walkout supporters are a group wanting stricter gun laws like background checks, gun violence restraining laws, a rise in the legal age to buy guns, and a ban on assault rifles. There are also the extreme reformers who want no guns whatsoever, they believe that no guns equal no violence. Then there are the people who see nothing wrong with the guns, they believe we need to up our security in our schools as we have for other places where gun violence was an issue. So what do you think; Is this movement good or bad? Is it helping or hurting the fight for stricter gun laws? I am tied between the two sides. I believe that there should be background checks and gun violence restraining laws. I also believe that it’s not the gun’s fault, nor the people who are responsible for them. If we take away guns, that will cause a bigger issue than we have right now, it would also be going against the second amendment. There needs to be a better restriction on who can and can’t have guns. We do need better security in our schools, and we do need better gun regulations. It makes me sad to know that I have to be afraid of everyone around me, even my closest friends.
National Walkout Day. American History. (2022, Apr 28). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/national-walkout-day-american-history/