District Mum On Possible Student Walkouts This Week

GRESHAM, OR — A number of public demonstrations are scheduled to take place this week as students and teachers across the nation plan organized walkouts to protest and memorialize the shooting the occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 14.

Following the deaths of 17 people at the hands of yet another school shooter, teens and adults have joined together to call on U.S. congressmen and women to enact stricter gun control laws at the federal level, such as requiring universal background checks and altogether banning assault-style military rifles, like the AR-15.

Despite inaction from federal legislators in the month since the tragic shooting, businesses nationwide have taken it upon themselves to raise the age limit for purchasing firearms as well as removing assault rifles from their inventories. This action has been met with widespread criticism from both sides of the gun argument.

Locally, law enforcement and school districts are bracing for student demonstrations planned for March 14, March 24, and April 20.

The ENOUGH National School Walkout will be held at 10 a.m. March 14, exactly one month from the Florida shooting, and is expected to last 17 minutes — one minute for each life lost.

The Gresham-Barlow School District has not identified any specific schools planning to participate in the walkouts nor has it released any specific announcements regarding the nationwide event.

Nearly 50 different schools in the Portland metro region, from elementary to college, have announced some plan to participate in the day's events.

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