LAURINBURG — On Saturday, about 100 people held a rally on the campus of St. Andrews University — one of more than 800 such events around the country to to fight for gun control legislation.
The March for Our Lives event was organized by First Baptist Church of Laurinburg, the SAU Black Student Union and the Scotland County NAACP Youth.
The marches unified hundreds of thousands of people in cities across the country and have galvanized this movement, organizers said. The group said moving forward, they plan to register young voters and send a message in upcoming elections.
In Laurinburg as a soft rain fell, a vigil was held to remember those who have lost their lives in mass shootings, starting Columbine and ending with a tribute to anyone in Scotland County who lost their lives due to gun violence.
Johna Speller, Scotland County NAACP Youth president, spoke about the need for gun control, school safety and mental illness reforms.
“We march today and tomorrow for our lives,” Speller said. “Listen, hear our voices and let’s take action.”
The 7th-grade Carver Middle School student compared mass shootings to an onion, saying it’s multi layered so there are multiple solutions. She gave a few solutions to the problem; stricter gun laws, bans on assault level or high caliber weapons, and an increase in mental illness awareness. Speller spoke on looking to other countries for help on gun laws.
“According to BBC News in 2014, there were just six gun deaths Japan compared to 33,599 in the US,” said Speller. “This is because Japan has strict gun laws and they don’t allow citizens to carry assault weapons.”
Speller spoke on having mental illness checks in schools like schools have physicals. She spoke on the fact that many of the people who commit the mass shootings have a mental illness that has gone undetected.
“As students we have a hard enough job to meet the expectations of our schools, families, and community,” Speller said. “These changes that we demand will allow students to desire to learn and strive at our schools, in colleges without worry, fear, and dismay.”
Laurinburg Police Chief Darwin “Duke” Williams talked about getting guns off the streets to prevent violence. Williams said lawmakers should ban bump stocks and silencers.
“This day in age, we do have law-abiding citizens who possess these guns, we’re not addressing those folks — those avid hunters — we’re trying to get the guns off the street from those who mean harm for mankind,” Williams said.
Gloria Everett, a mother who almost lost her son to gun violence, told her story.
On Dec. 19 2017, Everett received a call that her son had been shot in the head, but he survived.
“The gun violence in this country has grown enormously and it’s still growing,” Everett said. “Unless something is done I predict all control will be lost, unless something is done I predict all schools will close because of gun violence, unless something is done we will no longer enjoy life as we know it, unless something is done our future will no longer exist.”
Others who spoke at the event were William Sellers from Eastpointe Mental Health, Charles Wentz, a mental health professional and Wayne Wike, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Laurinburg.
Many of those in attendance just wanted something to be done.
Kiah Cheathan, a junior at St. Andrews and president of the Black Student Union, said “enough was enough.”
“It’s time and we clearly need change from mass shootings,” Cheathan said. “Any kind of awareness or a point where people have a voice should be enough.”
Majiye Uchibeke, a senior and a member of the SAU Black Student Union, said he was shocked that people can buy fire arms at Walmart. He is from is Nigeria.
“I’m trying to make sense of it myself and support this movement because there have been so many killings of high school students, middle school students, I think its time to stop,” said Uchibeke.
Tanner Capps, a philosophy and religious studies professor at St. Andrews, said rallies like the one in Laurinburg are an important part of the dialogue on guns
“I think we’re losing the public … I think gatherings like this are an attempt to regain the public,” he said. “I think an argument in the public square is important and this is a way to start an argument,” said Capps.
