Left Out

Second Amendment supporters struggle to be heard

On March 14, hundreds of anti-gun posters were being put up by Riverside’s students. Among the anti-gun walkout signs was a pro-gun poster that was torn and ripped in half by angry protesters.

Freshman Chi Infinito was one of few students at the protest who supports current gun laws. His sign said “Protect a life, own a gun.”

Infinito believes that school systems should implement more guns, not fewer, to keep students safe and certain teachers should be armed.

“I believe if the teacher is permitted and has done all the proper training to have a concealed carrying license,” Infinito said. “I believe they should be allowed and there should be more armed security in the school.”

Infinito feels protesting is not just for one group of people with one belief.

“I believe that the walkout was for expressing people’s beliefs and that’s what I did,” he said. “It was a counter-protest and I was just standing up for what I believe in.”

Infinito wasn’t the only student with a different point of view. In a March 20th News & Observer article, Riverside Junior Ray Palma shared his concerns, too.

Palma was quoted in a recent News & Observer article about local students who have different perspective on the walkout.

“This one firestorm sweeps over a nation … all of a sudden it’s like, it’s like the trendy thing to do.” Palma said to News & Observer. “Whenever that happens, I feel like it’s – I wouldn’t say superficial,but – scraping the top and not diving deeper into the root cause of the issues.”

Freshman Dean Collins has mixed opinions about the gun control walkout and liked many students walked out to express his beliefs. Collins thinks the problems in the schools that cause shootings are not security issues but social issues within the students.

“The problem is not the school, not the teachers. When you go back at other school shootings there are problems.” Collins says “The dude [at Parkland shooting] had something to do with his ex and had nothing to do with school and was personal life problems and now i that leads me to believe that whatever now happens, happens.”

In addition, to protesting government officials have taken action to secure schools and make life of students in schools much safer.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has stated that to implement more safety in schools all guns that have assault rifle style should be bought with the same permit needed for a handgun.

“This system allows time for appropriate checks to take place before someone can legally buy a handgun. But our law has a glaring loophole since this background check and permit process isn’t required to buy an assault weapon like an AR-15, the weapon used in Parkland. It should be,” Cooper said to WSOC-TV.

With student voices being heard and government officials acting, school shootings are coming to an end and students at Riverside can achieve a safer education.

By Javier Morales