Hawaii students are gearing up to “March for Our Lives” on March 24, building on the success of the student walkouts Wednesday protesting gun violence in schools.
“It was really inspiring to see all our young people out there fighting for justice, fighting for a better world,” Jun Shin, a freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said Thursday. “We can’t stop with what we saw all around the country and all around our state yesterday. We have to keep the momentum going.”
He and other students spoke at a press conference announcing their plans for a march and rally at the Capitol. It will coincide with the national March for Our Lives scheduled for March 24 in Washington, D.C.
| >> What: “March for Our Lives” and rally against gun violence
>> Who: Students and supporters
>> When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 24
>> Where: State Capitol. March follows Richards Street to Ala Moana Boulevard and up Punchbowl Street to the Capitol.
>> More info: facebook.com/MarchForOur LivesHI Opens in a new tab
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“Our government cannot keep allowing children to be gunned down in schools, citizens to be shot in streets and homes, but they do because at some point as a culture we decided that owning guns is more important than our lives,” said Monica Kenny, a 16-year-old junior at Sacred Hearts Academy, which is on break this week.
Behind her their banner read, “ENOUGH! End gun violence now. Join the movement.”
The students plan to gather at the state Capitol at 10 a.m. for a brief rally. The march will start at 10:30 a.m. and head down Richards Street to Ala Moana Boulevard, stop at the Federal Building and then head up Punchbowl Street to the Department of Education, then back to the Capitol by noon. They will conclude with a rally featuring student speakers, and sign waving along Beretania Street until 2 p.m.
The destinations were chosen to focus attention on their goals to pressure federal and state lawmakers to enact legislation to curb gun violence, boost funding for mental health and reduce bullying.
“We are tired of seeing our leaders, our innovators, our future snuffed out by the bullet,” Shin said. “Just like how young people once powered the civil rights movement … we will be able to make change happen.”
The survivors of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have emerged as powerful symbols to their peers. Fourteen students and three educators died in that massacre.
“A lot of people, especially our age, feel very helpless, feel like they can’t do anything,” said Taylor McKenzie, a Sacred Hearts senior. “I myself was inspired by the Parkland students, just to see the way they all stood up and the way they are making a difference, and I feel like we can, too.”
“We want to increase civic engagement, voter registration, voter participation, start the conversation to get people aware of what’s happening and get them motivated to do something,” McKenzie said.
On the local level the students are supporting two bills in the Legislature. Senate Bill 2046, SD 1, would ban “multiburst trigger activators” and devices that rev up semi-automatic weapons to simulate automatic gunfire. Another measure, House Bill 1908, would shorten the time that gun owners who are disqualified from possessing firearms have to turn them in.
The students also see Hawaii’s strict gun laws as a model for the rest of the country, McKenzie said.
People in the Aloha State must be 21 years old to buy a firearm, and all guns must be registered. Applicants must obtain a permit from the police department with a 14-day waiting period to allow for background checks. Gun ownership is prohibited for those with evidence of violent crimes, serious mental illness or addiction.
The students said they are organizing themselves through social media and called on other students to join them. Their Facebook page is March for Our Lives Hawaii.
“Who you see standing here are all students who came together through a Facebook post,” said Sarah Catino, a senior at UH Manoa. “This is the most grass-roots of a grass-roots effort I have ever witnessed.”
“This movement is a student-led coalition that is imploring Congress and our elected officials to take our words into account and to create sensible gun control legislation,” she said.
Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, lent his support at the press conference, noting that teachers lives are also on the line.
“With Parkland we have to remember that we lost not just students, but teachers who put their bodies in front of bullets in order to save their kids,” he said. “A lot of our teachers care deeply about our students … but one of a teacher’s responsibilities should not be that we have to take bullets.”
