MILWAUKEE COUNTY — Many students will be walking out of school today in protest of gun violence in schools. This comes just weeks after Wisconsin saw back-to-back two school shootings in Oshkosh and Waukesha.
According to a press release, at least 14 schools in the Milwaukee area will be taking part in the protest. Students are protesting for universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and 48 hour waiting periods for gun purchases.
Additionally, the students want to see funding for mental health care in schools, and they want to ensure schools won't "feel like prisons with countless resources officers and metal detectors."
Wisconsin experienced two shootings in schools earlier this month.
A Waukesha South High School resource officer shot a 17-year-old student after he pointed, what would later be found out to be, a pellet gun at him and refused to put it down on Monday Dec. 2.
The next day, An Oshkosh West High School resource officer shot a 16-year-old studentafter the boy stabbed him in his office.
These are just two of the 99 school shootings that happened in the U.S. this year.
The March for our Lives Milwaukee chapter said in a press release, "These school shootings are causing students to be scared in classrooms. With gun violence being a problem that has plagued this country for decades, students are demanding action to feel safer in their schools, places of worship and communities at large."
While more schools may be participating, here are the 14 that we have heard about:
- Wauwatosa West High School
- Wauwatosa East High School
- Shorewood High School
- Whitefish Bay High School
- Milwaukee High School Of The Arts
- Milwaukee School Of Languages
- St. Anthony High School
- Pius XI High School
- Cudahy High School
- Rufus King High School
- Harold S Vincent High School
- Ronald Reagan High School
- Carmen High School South
- Escuela Verde
Students will also be holding a rally at 4 p.m. Friday.
