Denver (Coloardo)[US], May 31: A crowd of more than 1,000 students Friday spent their first day of summer break gathered at Colorado's gold-domed State Capitol in downtown Denver to demand gun control.
It was the second day that student walkouts continued across the United States as thousands of students reacted to last Tuesday's slaying of 19 Texas children, mostly 10-year-olds, at Robb Elementary School in southwest Texas, by a crazed 18-year-old wielding an AR-15 automatic rifle.
They demanded protection, intervention, and gun control measures.
"It is utterly unacceptable that any child or student trying to learn anything should be exposed to this barbaric behavior and military response when at school," said Sandy Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica Ghawi was shot to death in Colorado's infamous 2012 Aurora theater massacre where 12 people died and 70 others were wounded.
"Nothing has changed," Westfield High's Anna Sandene told the crowd who held signs saying "Protect Kids, Not Guns," "I shouldn't be prepared for 'when,'" "There have been 1,924 school shootings in the past 50 years," and "A child's right to survive the school day outweighs anyone's right to own a gun."
In northeast Denver Friday morning, students from Green Valley Ranch reportedly also held a walkout, shouting "Enough is enough," and "No Guns, Protect the Kids," while they marched through the neighborhood surrounding their campus.
"Ban assault weapons now. Just DO IT," March for Our Lives, an organization founded by survivors of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, tweeted Sunday. The group is planning nationwide protests on June 11.
Source: Xinhua