3
Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Lives protest on Walkway Over the Hudson
Shantal Riley Shantal Riley
Elizabeth Vinogradov wears a sign that har-
kens back to the Pete Seeger song, “Where
Have All the Flowers Gone?” “I’m here not just for the students, but all
the lives that have been lost due to gun
violence,” said Verne Bell.
unison chanting “Enough!” People held
signs in wheelchairs and babies laid next
to propped up signs in baby carriages. One
sign simply read, “Vote.” Indeed, dozens of volunteers brandished clipboards with
voter registration forms.
Another sign read, “21st Century
Weapons – 18th Century Laws.” Educator
Elizabeth Vinogradov said the Second
Shantal Riley
From left: Mario Hernandez, 21, Jamal Lewis, 20, and Elizabeth Mackey, 18. “It’s ridiculous that
we have to fight for something so simple,” said Mackey.
Brian Wolfe
More than 800 marches took place in and outside of the U.S. over the weekend.
Amendment had been written when
Americans were still shooting muskets.
“The idea of living with these 21st-Century
weapons based on laws for 18th Century
weaponry...” she said, shaking her head.
Vinogradov said she was absolutely
against arming teachers with guns, as
were many teachers who marched that
day, wearing signs that read, “Books not
Guns,” and “Arm Teachers with Books.”
Vinogradov’s own sign, which she wore
on her back, quoted the lyrics from the
Pete Seeger song “Where Have All the
Flowers Gone?” Except there was a twist.
“The song goes, ‘When will they ever
learn?’” she said. “My sign reads, ‘When
will we ever learn?’ We need to take
collective responsibility.”
Following the Parkland school
massacre, students quickly organized to
lobby for increased gun control, with
specific demands for lawmakers to 1.
ban assault weapons such as the AR-15
rifle, used in Parkland and other mass
shootings, 2. end sales of high-capacity
magazines, such as those used in a mass
shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people
in October, and 3. require universal
background checks.
President Donald Trump has proposed
arming teachers with guns. He also tweeted
about the possibility of strengthening
background checks, referring repeatedly
to the Parkland shooter as having mental-
health issues. However, last year Trump
signed a measure that repealed legislation
restricting gun sales to the mentally ill.
Last week, Trump tweeted in favor
of banning bump stocks, writing, “We
will BAN all devices that turn legal
weapons into illegal machine guns.” No
gun-control reform measures have been
enacted since Trump met with lawmakers
in February, when he promised to shore up
background checks and ban bump stocks.
According to the Center for Responsive
Politics website OpenSecrets.org, the
National Rifle Association contributed
more than $30 million to Trump’s most
recent presidential campaign.