Locals, exchange students in US protest against gun violence outside White House

WASHINGTON: A number of students took to the streets outside the White House here on Thursday to protest the rampant gun violence and the recent school shootings in the United States.

The demonstrators, which mainly comprised students from Montgomery and DC area as well as activists, reiterated their demand to lawmakers to make gun laws stricter.

With slogans calling for strong legislation to be implemented on weapons as well as placards against the National Rifle Association (NRA), the two-hour protest attracted scores of exchange students from different countries who turned up specifically after last week's massacre in Santa Fe, Texas, which left 10 people — including Pakistan-born Sabika Sheikh — dead.

The protest's organiser herself was a Pakistani exchange student.

Speaking to Geo.tv, Isra Cheema, a friend of Sheikh, explained that she felt it necessary to organise the rally to call for the government to reviews its gun policy and take measures that would prevent future shootings.

"We think it's completely unacceptable that so many kids in our country have died from gun violence," said one of the protesters.

"We want the NRA and the White House and the Congress members to listen to us and implement common sense gun control because it is really common sense," she added.

'Bullets don’t discriminate'

Another participant in the protest, who spoke to Geo.tv here outside the White House, talked about America's "weird" obsession with guns and ammunition, in general, "where they protect guns over our lives".

"That is completely unacceptable … that’s why we are here today. What we want is to change the ideals around guns so that these policies — that are being talked about and discussed in the Congress building and the White House — they can come in with more fluidity and are accepted by everyone.

Claire Gelillo — a freshman at the Richard Montgomery High School and an exchange student herself — said she did not want to remain nervous all day every day just because some terrorist could open fire in a school and kill people.

"I'm here today because as a kid living in America during this time, I’m scared for my life, I’m scared for my family’s life, and I’m scared for my friends.

"I don’t wanna have to hear on the news every month about a mass shooting at a school and, in America, this shouldn’t be happening," explained the demonstrator, who also mentioned that her sister lost a friend in the Santa Fe mass shooting.

Stressing that was never too late to join the fight against gun violence, she said: "This is something that America needs to come together [against], we have to be a collective group fighting for this issue because it affects all of us.

"Bullets don’t discriminate."