North Texas

Fort Worth High School Students Plan Protest Against Gun Violence

Fort Worth high school students are planning a rally next week in support of stricter gun laws.

"We hope everyone can come," said Paschal High School junior Lucy Ariola. "We want everyone to feel they're welcome."

Ariola, 17, said she's been watching other student protests around the country and took it upon herself to help organize one in Fort Worth.

"This is my first big political activism thing," she said.

She said students want tougher gun laws and stricter background checks.

"And obviously we're saying teachers shouldn't have guns and things like that," she said. "We are the future and the adults really aren't doing anything. They weren't doing anything. And now that our voices are being heard and we are becoming more active, things are getting done and the conversation has been started."

There have been other protests in North Texas.

High school students in Plano and Southlake organized protests after the Florida high school massacre last month that left 17 dead.

But in Fort Worth, they're planning for a much larger rally.

"The response we've gotten so far is like incredible," Ariola said. "We put up the Facebook page and on the first day we had 1,000 people saying they were interested in liking the page. I think a lot of people are going to come to these marches."

Ariola said the protest will be peaceful even though they are expecting counter-protesters.

"We are working with the city and the police so everyone will be safe," she said.

Contact Us