A group of Laramie High School Students organized a March for Our Lives for Saturday, March 24, one of the many marches that took place across the world on the same day.

Evan Naughton said that the idea came for the march when LHS students saw other marches across the country, but found that there was not a single march planned in Wyoming at the time.

March attendees gathered in the First Street Plaza before starting their march at 10:30. After the march, a rally was held that included speeches by multiple LHS students, city councilor Pat Gabriel, representative Charles Pelkey, and senator Chris Rothfuss. After the rally, a group of attendees drove to Fort Collins to participate in the Fort Collins rally as a Wyoming delegation.

The march had an estimated turnout of 517 people, a number that the organizers were more than happy about.

"I'm really happy with the turnout and I hope that our message is conveyed and that it doesn't stop here" said Naughton.

During her speech at the rally, LHS senior Kayla Prescott said that the goal was not to take guns, but that "we are trying to protect our right to a safe education."

Charles Pelkey spoke next, commenting on all of the young faces at the rally by saying that "this is a movement coming from the people that are directly affected by the status quo."

In addition to calls for the protection of students, there was also a focus on mental health support.

LHS student Tori Kent talked about an individual she knew that was found with guns and a plan to attack LHS. Of the individual, Kent said that  "if not for the mental health support he had, we might've had a tragedy in our town."

"I think we need to keep in mind that these things can and do happen in a small town, even if it hasn't happened in Laramie." Kent added.

 

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