Ohio State students among the thousands to “March For Our Lives” in Columbus demonstration

Maddy Fixler
Sat, 24 Mar 2018 22:28:10 +0000
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Protesters took to the streets outside the Statehouse during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24 to advocate for common-sense gun reform following the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 students dead on Feb. 14, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Thousands of students, teenagers, children, parents and teachers marched from the West Bank Park in downtown Columbus to the Ohio Statehouse as part of a sweeping movement. They marched for their lives, for others and for those who have already died at the hands of a gun. They marched to end gun violence and demand action from state and national lawmakers. ?

More than 5,000 people were estimated to be at the Columbus March For Our Lives, one of the roughly 800 protests that took place throughout the country Saturday. The march in Ohio’s capital city began at 10 a.m. and lasted through the afternoon, with most participants leaving around 3 p.m., after five hours of walking, chanting and protesting.

Chants like “The NRA has got to go,” and “This is what democracy looks like,” echoed through the masses on the crowd’s half-mile walk to the statehouse.

Students, teachers, professors, parents and babies all attended the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Protesters marched from West Bank Park to the Statehouse and back demanding gun reform. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Following the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers on Feb. 14, national outcry prompted the organization of similar marches across the United States. In the aftermath of the tragedy, those students whose classmates and teachers were killed have taken to social media and orchestrated action in communities across the country, calling on citizens and politicians to reform the nation’s gun laws.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, attended the march with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Connie Schultz, who also is his wife, and voiced his support for the protesters and students voicing their outrage for current gun laws.

“Students are going to change the world this year. Congress won’t do its job, the legislature won’t do its job, and young people aren’t going to give up,” Brown said in an interview with The Lantern. “We’re counting on Ohio State students to vote [in November]. We’re counting on young voters everywhere to come out in larger numbers than ever before and change the country.”

The march drew considerable support from Ohio State students.

“The Parkland shooting made me realize that [students are] just at a breaking point with school shootings and that we need our leaders to step up and create gun reform that will keep our schools safe and make sure that guns aren’t falling into the hands of people that will do harm,” said Aaron Dobres, a second-year in accounting. “If our leaders don’t step up, no one else is quite able to affect change so directly.”

An elementary student marches with her family down High Street near the Ohio Statehouse carrying a sign that says both “gun safe” and “unsafe” on March 24, 2018 during the March For Our Lives in Columbus. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Kirby Dearth, a third-year public affairs, said young people taking part in political reform is something he said does not typically occur.

“Traditionally, the youngest generations have been the most politically complacent, and that is not the case for this generation and the millennial generation. It’s really empowering because most public policy is done by older people, so I think we have a good future ahead of us,” Dearth said.

Not all those in attendance were in support of the so-called “common sense” demonstration. Chris Dorr a member of an pro-gun group, Ohio Gun Owners, walked alongside marchers in a shirt proclaiming “Defend the Second,” referring to the Second Amendment. ?

“We see this as a complete attack on our gun rights,” he said. “They want to pass bills like Senate Bill 260, which would take away the firearm that I use to defend myself, the firearm that my wife uses to defend our six kids, and we’re completely not OK with that.”

Ohio Gun Owners held a gun rights rally March 13 at the Ohio Statehouse.

Ohio Senate Bill 260 is sponsored by two Democratic state senators and would ban automatic and semi-automatic guns with magazines holding more than 10 rounds. Other gun control reforms have been proposed in the state legislature, but it is yet to become clear whether or not legislative change will occur.

While the future of gun legislation is unclear, there seems to be one message many Americans – Democrat, Moderate or Republican — agree on: school is not the place for violence.

“Schools should be a place of peace and education,” said Hannah Ladaika, a first-year in environmental policy, “not of worrying every second if you are going to be safe or not.”

Thousands gathered at West Bank Park to protest the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida and advocate for gun-reform during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Several screens scattered across West Bank Park displayed statistics on gun violence throughout the event, including how black men are thirteen times more likely than white men to be shot and killed with guns. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Voting was emphasized as a strategy for gun reform throughout the entire March For Our Lives in Columbus, with many demonstrators touting signs that read "Voting is my superpower." Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Members young and old of The Little Minyan Kehillah, a Jewish Congregation in Columbus, sing about speaking out against violence during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A sign next to the main stage at the March For Our Lives in Columbus reads "The love of killing machines is killing our kids." Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Drew Gillins shared his experience with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder after surviving the 2012 school shooting at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio. "I was 100 percent sure that was the day I was going to die," he said during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Annika Carroll, Izzy Smith and her newborn Whitley Smith hold signs at the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A woman holds a sign in the shape of an American flag listing the names of each school or university where a mass shooting has taken place. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Teresa Dendy used to be a school teacher and participated in the March For Our Lives in Columbus because she and her students were forced into a lockdown during an active shooter situation. "You just don't get over it," Dendy said. The top sign shows what students look like when an active shooter is in the building, she said, and the bottom sign is of a school official changing the school library sign to school armory. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Thousands of families, children, students and teachers filled the entirety of the West Bank Park south of COSI during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Ruby, 6, holds a sign that says "Cling to children, not guns." Ruby attended the March For Our Lives in Columbus with her parents and younger brother on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A parachute created by Ohio State students reads "RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. March For Our Lives" is arranged on the Rich Street Bridge prior to the start of the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Thousands gathered and held signs at West Bank Park to protest the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida and advocate for gun-reform during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Demanding that the march commence, participants walked across the Rich Street Bridge near COSI before the official permit start time for the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Parade marshals hold the official March For Our Lives banner while waiting for the cue to take the streets during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Protesters stage a "die-in" on the Rich Street Bridge in Columbus at the March for Our Lives demonstration on March 24, 2018. The participants observed a moment of silence for the seventeen victims of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

Students from Groveport Madison High School hold a banner at the front of the march with the hashtag #NeverAgain moments before the March For Our Lives in Columbus hit the streets on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Activists wait for the March for Our Lives demonstration to begin on the Rich Street Bridge in Downtown Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

Participants line the Rich Street Bridge in Columbus as they wait for the march to begin on March 24, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

Students, teachers, professors, parents and babies all attended the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Protesters marched from West Bank Park to the Statehouse and back demanding gun reform. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Protesters return to the starting point of the march at the Rich Street Bridge at the March for Our Lives demonstration in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

An elementary student marches with her family down High Street near the Ohio Statehouse carrying a sign that says both "gun safe" and "unsafe" on March 24, 2018 during the March For Our Lives in Columbus. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Protesters flood the courtyard outside the Statehouse demanding gun reform during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Protesters storm the steps of the Statehouse guarded by police officers demanding gun reform and protection for children in schools during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A man dressed in camouflage smiles while marching to the Statehouse holding a sign that reads "Licensed, registered hunter: it's illegal to use these [AR-15s] to hunt. We don't need them!" Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a democrat, speaks from the steps of The Ohio Statehouse to address the current state of politics in the country at the March for Our Lives demonstration in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A sign with four crayons and one bullet on it was left on the ground after the March For Our Lives in Columbus and reads "One of these does not belong." Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Ohio State student Finley Kocher, a first-year studying neuroscience, leads a chant using a megaphone in front of the Statehouse at the March for Our Lives demonstration in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern Photographer

An older man who wheeled the entirety of the march holds up his sign, which reads "Nay to the NRA. Let our children live." Although a significant portion of protesters were children and young adults, demonstrators from all generations participated in the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Protesters took to the streets outside the Statehouse during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24 to advocate for common-sense gun reform following the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 students dead on Feb. 14, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

A family marches to the front of the Statehouse during the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018, with signs that read "books not bullets" and "no more guns." Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Many activists at the march criticized the National Rifle Association for funding politicians and putting "profit over people" in regards to gun control. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

Twin sisters are pulled down High Street outside the Statehouse by their parents with a sign that says "We want adults to stop fighting and help us not die at school." Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor

As they left, demonstrators placed their signs on the fence surrounding the Statehouse at the conclusion of the March For Our Lives in Columbus on March 24, 2018. Credit: Ris Twigg | Assistant Photo Editor