Anti-Gun Violence Advocates Speak Out In Tualatin

TUALATIN, 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.

In Tualatin, an apparent hotbed of activity since the Feb. 14 shooting, both young and adult community members alike are organizing demonstrations to show their support for policy reforms — which has so far included lobbying before Oregon legislators to approve House Bill 4145, which has since been signed by Gov. Kate Brown.

HB 4145 effectively closed the "boyfriend loophole," which previously allowed "convicted domestic abusers to continue to legally possess firearms if they were not married to, the parent of a child with, or living with the target of their abuse," state officials said.

The approval of HB 4145, in part, aligns "the definition of a domestic violence conviction in Oregon's Unlawful Possession of a Firearms statute with the existing definition of domestic violence elsewhere in Oregon law," officials said. "It also adds a misdemeanor stalking conviction as qualifying for the same protections as other domestic violence misdemeanors."

For the March 14 demonstration, Tualatin High School students will reportedly leave their classrooms at 9:55 a.m. and head out to the school's turf field for 17 minutes of silence.

"As students, we cannot sit on the sidelines hoping that lawmakers take action on gun reforms and preventing gun violence in our schools," said Bailey Langley, a Tualatin student who helped organize the local walkout. "We are demanding to be heard."

Becky Chamseddine, a Tualatin mother of three, reportedly helped organize a vigil in Tualatin within days of the Florida shooting, and has since continued to encourage other local groups and individuals to stand up against gun violence and those who allow it to persist.

"I could not be more proud of these young people," Chamseddine said in a statement. "We want our children to learn that by getting involved, speaking out, and taking action, they can drive this country to change."

Follow hashtag #mommabearisdone to keep up-to-date on Chamseddine's group activities.

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