LANSING, Mich. — Students and advocates gathered on the steps of the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday, calling out legislators for their inaction on gun safety reforms in the wake of the deadly shooting at Oxford High School late last year.
Speakers also called for better access to mental health services in schools.
“We shouldn’t have had to bury friends, classmates, boyfriends, girlfriends. No 15-year-old should have access to a gun and enter a school with one," said Zoe Touray, a student at Oxford High School. "Yet on Nov. 30 a student walked into Oxford High School and did just that, opening fire with a 9mm handgun.”
Four students were shot and killed at Oxford High that day and and teacher along with six other students wounded. One of their classmates, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, has been charged in the shootings.
The young people at the Capitol Wednesday want to see gun storage laws implemented in Michigan and said if the state had them in place, their classmates might still be alive today.
“If people had taken action sooner my friends and classmates would still be here," Touray said.
In the wake of the Oxford shooting, students from across the state called for better access to mental health services in schools.
“Who do we go to when, less than 45 miles away, four students were shot and killed? We have no one," said Vivian Li, who serves as state outreach director for March for Our Lives.
“As students, we need help. We need school-based professionals, screening tools and support clinics. At the bare minimum, we need one mental health professional in every school in Michigan," she said.
There are bills in the Michigan legislature that aim to implement better gun storage in the state but there hasn't been much movement on them.
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