Students across the US ready to 'class walkout' in support of tough gun laws

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US teenagers from coast to coast on Wednesday will join students from the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last month in a national class walkout they hope will press policy makers to act on tighter gun control.

The #ENOUGH National School Walkout, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time across the country, will last 17 minutes, commemorating each of the students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14.

Activists and students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attend a rally at the Florida State Capitol building to address gun control, Feb. 21, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

The walkout is part of a burgeoning, grass-roots movement that emerged immediately after the Feb. 14 Parkland attack.

Led by student-survivors, activists have lobbied state and federal lawmakers, and even met with President Donald Trump, to call for new restrictions on gun ownership, a right protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

US President Donald Trump speaks with student survivors during a “listening session” on gun violence in the White House, Feb. 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

Students from more than 2,800 schools and groups will participate, many with the backing of their school districts, according to the walkout's organizers.

The protest will take place a day after Florida prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Source(s): Reuters