Sophomore Hailey Villalobos carried her #NeverAgain sign as she marched with thousands of others down Spring Street in Downtown, Los Angeles in support for gun control reform at the March for Our Lives event on March 24.
Villalobos participated in the march because she wanted better firearms control that would not only protect her, but also her two younger sisters who are currently in school.
“It’s really scary to think that a shooting can happen at their school at any time,” Villalobos said. “I want everyone to be safe, but I really need my sisters to be harmless while they are on their school campus.”
Millions of passionate gun control supporters participated in the student-led movements across the nation and around the world to address gun violence. In addition to the march, a main part of the event was registering first-time voters in order to replace out politicians who oppose stricter gun laws.
Although the main march was in Washington D.C., tens of thousands attended the one in Los Angeles, including Villalobos.
“The march made me feel like I was doing something important,” Villalobos said. “It made me feel like I was changing something.”
Since the march, many companies and organizations have cut ties with the National Rifle Association.
Despite this progress on gun control, Villalobos believes that this event alone cannot bring successful results on legislative change. She wants the leaders of this movement to continue to organize more marches in the future.
“If we keep having more marches,” Villalobos said, “The government would eventually get tired of them and settle for the people’s wishes.”
However, the March for Our Lives movement had an strong impact on her. As she cannot vote yet, Villalobos wants to write letters and get in contact with those in the government, in order to express her point of view and fight for a positive change. She highly encourages others to do the same if they want to support gun control reforms.
TCHS School Newspaper