Thousands rally for school safety, gun control at Columbia’s March For Our Lives

As Megan Carey stood in the crowd gathered at Sumter and Calhoun streets, she had a clear message for those who weren’t there.

“These are students’ lives at hand,” Carey says. “It’s not just about gun owners or democracy. It’s about our lives.”

Carey, a 15-year-old Dutch Fork High School student, was one of thousands of people gathered for the March For Our Lives in downtown Columbia on Saturday.

March For Our Lives is a national movement meant to put tougher gun control measures on the national agenda following the numerous school shootings and other gun violence seen across the United States. It was in part called for by students of Parkland, Fla., the site of the Feb. 14 high school shooting that killed 17 people.

The Columbia event was organized in part by Building Better Communities, a Midlands organization that works with law enforcement to create better community relations, as well as local chapters of Moms Demand Action, Faith Coalition On Gun Violence and Moms Against Gun Violence.

“I came down because I go to school, and I think it’s (more) important to learn and better my education than be afraid for my life,” Carey said.

A march led by high school students and other youth proceeded from Calhoun Street up Sumter Street, ending at a rally at the S.C. State House where the crowd had gained size and momentum. They brandished signs reading “Guns are the death of U.S.” as well as “Protect kids not guns” and chanted, “Make America safe again” and “No more silence. End Gun violence.”

The mass of people appeared to number near 3,000. Bouquets of orange flowers on the State House stairs spelled out “Never Again,” the motto of the growing gun control movement.

“Old folks need to act,” Columbia Mayor Benjamin said. He was one of nearly two dozen speakers, including a number of students and other young people, who spoke at the rally. “This is a moment in the history of our nation that if we stand behind our young people and follow them, we can fundamentally change our nation.”

This was the rallying call for the day: "Listen to what the youth are saying about gun control measures."

Sarah Hinnant was one of the young people leading the marchers.

She’s 18 and attends Dreher High School in Columbia. She’s been involved with marches and rallies up and down the East Coast, including one in Washington D.C. On Saturday, she led the marchers in their chants, reinforcing their memories on calls like “Show me what democracy looks like.”

She was straightforward about what she wants from politicians in South Carolina and the nation’s capital: universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, no more high-capacity magazines and the closing of loopholes that allow people to buy guns without the proper protocol, such as what’s become known as the “Charleston loophole.” That gap allowed Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who murdered nine black parishioners in Charleston, to obtain a gun by outlasting a waiting period for a background check to come back.

Hinnant knows passing gun control in South Carolina will be a challenge.

“Do something” is the message she wants lawmakers and those not attending to hear. “I want to feel safe in school. I want students to stop dying. For people who oppose me, why doesn’t it matter to you? It doesn’t need to be partisan.”

South Carolina allows the purchase of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines and does not require background checks for private sales, such as at gun shows. This was a loophole that state Rep. James Smith, a candidate for governor, called for state and national lawmakers to close.

“It’s been the youth of America that have been a catalyst for positive change,” Smith said. “Like the Freedom Riders of the ’60s demanding civil rights and racial equality, it’s you here today who can bring about the positive change for safer schools, a stronger community and let us leave this place for the next generation a better place than we found it.”

While gun control might be a tough sell in South Carolina now, Candace Cullman said she hopes the march and rally energize teenagers to put their emotions to the ballot and vote out lawmakers who are backed by the gun lobby.

“The next couple of years, when we’re going to the elections, making the right choices and picking the right people to lead,” she said. “I remember in high school we didn’t have things like this to go to. It’s time to take action.”

Carey, the Dutch Fork student, has simpler demands than gun control.

She just wants to not fear going to school. In the short term, that might be accomplished by better security measures while restrictions on guns are worked on.

She is, though, an advocate for gun control, and she said she’s confident millions of other students like her feel the same – students who will be voting in just a couple of years if they aren’t already.

“I feel like it’s my generation’s (movement),” Carey says. “I feel like the answer is really loud and clear.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Thousands rally for school safety, gun control at Columbia’s March For Our Lives."