After School Walkouts, Will Lawmakers Do Anything About Gun Violence?
“I know people who have been shot, I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost cousins,” says student Imani Harris.
Lawmakers in Lansing continue to debate legislation to crack down on gun violence. That’s as students across the state and the country walked out of class this week to demand action and to honor the victims of the Parkland, Florida school shooting last month.
WDET’s Jake Neher and Michigan Public Radio’s Cheyna Roth talk about the walkouts and what lawmakers might do to respond to these tragedies.
Click here to hear more of WDET’s coverage of this week’s school walkouts
Imani Harris is a senior at Renaissance High School in Detroit. She spoke with Neher this week prior to the walkout she organized at the school. She says she’s tired of adults suggesting that she’s an unwitting pawn in an effort by gun control advocates to take away Second Amendment rights.
“I know people who have been shot, I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost cousins,” says Harris. “So it’s like, nobody can control me into saying that gun control is necessary or that gun violence is a bad thing.”
“When you’ve seen family members that are only 16 (years old) die of gun violence, nobody needs to tell me that’s a bad thing, I know that’s a bad thing,” she says.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
