Thousands participate in national school walkout after Nashville shooting, urge gun control

Thousands of students walked out of classes across the country Wednesday to demand lawmakers take action on gun safety following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, last week.

Advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, which coordinated the walkouts through Students Demand Action, said there were more than 300 demonstrations across 41 states and D.C. to kick off a “week of action” by advocates and gun violence survivors.

Ryley Collins, 15, a volunteer with Students Demand Action who helped lead a walkout at Jasper High School in Plano, Texas, said she and her classmates wanted to “make sure our lawmakers understand that we want more than just thoughts and prayers.”

“We want to be safe in our schools and we want them to take action to protect our lives, not the gun industry’s profits,” Collins said.

USA TODAY confirmed thousands of students walked out of classes through local media reports, estimates from school districts and USA TODAY Network reporters on the scene.

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In Uvalde, Texas, dozens of high school students left classes, local news outlets reported. Last year, an 18-year-old former student fatally shot 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others at one of the town’s elementary schools.

“Children shouldn’t have to walk out of class so that adults can find the political will to do something to keep them safe,” said Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat, in a statement.

And in Dallas, “hundreds” of students walked out of classes, the Dallas Independent School District said.

North Carolina saw school walkouts across several districts. In the Charlotte area, thousands of students at five high schools staged peaceful walkouts, said Eddie Perez, spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Some could be seen leaving classes holding signs overhead, WSOC-TV reported.

In South Florida, around 100 students left classes at South Broward High School, according to local WSVN-TV. On Monday, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that eliminates licensing requirements for Florida residents to carry a concealed firearm in most public places.

In Memphis, nearly a thousand students from two high schools walked out of classes for nearly an hour Wednesday. “We deserve to live and to learn without fear,” said student organizer Sofia Gutierrez, a senior at Crosstown High School.

Elementary, middle school students join national school walkout Wednesday

Younger students also participated in the demonstrations: Approximately 350 students walked out of classes at a middle school in Ladue, Missouri, for instance, and about 300 middle and high school students walked out in Melrose, Massachusetts, spokespeople for the respective districts said.

In Maplewood, Missouri, more than 300 elementary, middle and high school students participated in demonstrations, said Ed Rich, spokesperson for the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.

The district shared photos of the event at one elementary school showing 11-year-olds lined up against a playground fence, holding signs that read “Protect children not guns” and “We are the future.” At the high school event, students observed six minutes of silence, representing each of the six victims of the Nashville school shooting, Rich said.