March for our Lives Centre County: 'Our country cannot go on like this'

It's life or death, a choice between the availability of the most lethal guns in America and generation Z's survival, at times in school.

And it's already too late for some children, but it doesn't have to be for others, State College senior Kayla Fatemi said.

Fatemi has been evolving as the face of a national movement on a local scale. She was one of several State College High School students who organized the community's March For Our Lives gathering, one of thousands taking place nationwide Saturday to support gun control, protest gun violence and rally to encourage people to vote.

"We were all born after Columbine and have never known a world where school shootings were a rare occurrence," Fatemi said through a megaphone to a crowd of hundreds. "We open Twitter every day to see a new tragic gun-related massacre has occurred somewhere in America. And we are as used to secure-in-place drills as we are fire drills.... Our country cannot go on like this."

Their reasons for organizing a March For Our Lives event can't be simplified down to a pro-gun versus anti-gun argument.

That would be unconstitutional, senior Bea Belmonte said.

"When we talk about gun control, we aren't talking about getting rid of all guns," she said. "We believe in every amendment, including the 2nd amendment. We don't want to take away people's rights. We're saying there should be somewhere that we draw a line to make a difference between people who want to protect themselves or go hunting versus people who would want to hurt other people."

The three-hour protest over gun-related issues and school shootings was launched at State College's high school before hundreds marched to Old Main for a rally. The march was organized more than a month after a school shooting left 17 people dead at Stoneman Douglas High School and before a school shooting in Maryland left a 16-year-old dead.

Penn State grad student Colleen Unroe said her father, a Vietnam veteran, has agreed with her that there needs to be gun control reform. She is also considering buying a gun for her own protection.

"I'm concerned about safety and the future of our country, but I'm also inspired by the young people at State High," Unroe said. "They are giving us all inspiration for what we want our community to look like so we can all engage civically."

Unroe said grade students are the ones who have to do drills to stay safe in school, they're informed and they deserve to have their voices heard.

"We're only just now turning 18," senior Bronte Clingham-David said. "We've got a whole life ahead of us. We're young. This is just the beginning."

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 12:21 PM with the headline "March for our Lives Centre County: 'Our country cannot go on like this'."