These students walked out of class — to show support for the Second Amendment
A week after young people around the country marched to support new gun control measures, another group of high school students staged their own walk out — to support gun rights.
About 75 students at Rockledge High School in Florida walked out of class Friday to express their support for the Second Amendment, according to Florida Today.
Friday's protest followed the March for Our Lives protest a week earlier, in which thousands of students marched on Washington, D.C. and other cities — including Columbia — to call for tighter restrictions to U.S. gun laws. The march followed a Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people.
Some students at Rockledge had other ideas than the marchers from a week before. For about 20 minutes, students stood outside waving signs that read, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and “I support the right to bear arms.”
One student wore a T-shirt that read, "My rights don't end where your feelings begin."
Some said efforts to honor the Parkland shooting victims had become too politicized and that students who support gun rights had been sidelined in the discussion.
“I’m pro-Second Amendment,” Rockledge junior and protest organizer Anna Delaney told TV station WFTV. "I wouldn’t mind deeper background checks, of course, but the Second Amendment will not be infringed upon.”
Delaney also told the station she supported efforts to arm teachers and other school staff in the wake of the Parkland shooting.
“It’s all over the news right now that all students hate guns," said junior Zachary Schneider. "I wanted to show that not all students feel that way.”
On March 14, a similar walkout at high schools across the country focused on supporting new gun control measures. That led to some students receiving in-school punishments, while other students took part in other on-campus activities on the date of the national walkout.
It's unclear if students who took part in Friday's walkout will face any punishment. Vickie Hickey, principal of Rockledge High School, told Florida Today the school treated Friday's event exactly like it treated the walkouts that took place March 14. She said both events were completely student-driven.
This story was originally published April 2, 2018 at 12:45 PM with the headline "These students walked out of class — to show support for the Second Amendment."