The school shooting in Parkland, Florida last month is having an effect on NY politics.
On Feb. 14 a shooter killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The Democrat told reporters at Marist College February 22nd that NY laws are far ahead of federal laws. "I'm sure he didn't wake up in morning thinking, 'I'm going to die today'". "The only that happened is that NY took action".
Wednesday, students in local schools joined others across the country in a peaceful protest to demand action to end gun violence.
Some districts restricted students from participating.
Other Catholic schools around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis held similar observances March 14.
Following these statements, many universities have said admitted students suspended for peacefully protesting will not lose their admittance based on disciplinary actions.
Along the first coast, the St. John's School District was officially neutral on the student walkout. At Hampton Academy (a day late due to the storm) students rang the school bell 17 times to honor each victim. "This is in our hands now, and if any elected official gets in our way, we will vote them out and replace them ourselves". "Parents who have questions about the code are encouraged to contact their child's school building principal".
The National School Walkout will be followed this weekend by the March for Our Lives on Mar. 24, which will also have solidarity marches here in Canada including in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Both sides are also watching traditionally gun-friendly Vermont, where the Republican governor recently abandoned his stance against new gun control laws after the arrest of an 18-year-old accused of plotting a school shooting.
After each school shooting, people in communities all across the country grieve and shake their heads and think: This will be the one that prompts our leaders to do something. Shen Public Information Officer Kelly DeFeciani says a threat was discovered Friday afternoon.
Corin says the March for Our Lives happening in Washington and around the world on Saturday offers a "visual representation of how many people are here and with us" for the changes they hope to make. Two-thirds oppose arming teachers.
Iowa Gun Owners, a self-described "no-compromise gun lobby", has mobilized its members to pressure Republican lawmakers to hold firm.
I've had good conversations with gun owners, and we agree: these are military weapons. 48 percent oppose it.
New York State United Teachers union spokesman Carl Korn: "We can't think of a worse idea than arming teachers".
Besides inspiring students to speak up, the walkout also inspired the adults of the community as well.
Canadian novelist Mavis Gallant, who was in the streets of Paris during the student-led uprising of May 1968, wrote: "The collective hallucination was that life can change, quite suddenly and for the better". "Students are gonna set up all kinds of booths to show students how they can advocate for anything". A possible advantage of the magnet school approach is that parents and students would opt in to a new school rather than being forced out of a school in which they may be succeeding.
Said Kaunonen: "We weren't allowed to put up posters in the school to advertise or anything, this was all done on social media and talking face-to-face".
And students, after all, remain the motivation behind this burgeoning movement.
Several states are considering raising the age to buy rifles to 21 or debating "red flag" laws that would allow courts to order the temporary seizure of guns from people showing signs of mental distress or violence.