Students Walk Out Across Minnesota Demanding Assault Weapons Ban

By Staff, Agencies

Students across Minnesota staged coordinated walkouts on Friday in response to last week’s deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, pressing state and federal lawmakers to enact bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The demonstrations, organized by Students Demand Action, a grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, drew participants from schools in the Twin Cities, Duluth and surrounding communities such as Eagan, Hopkins, Golden Valley and Stillwater.

“It really hit close to home for all of us,” said Mary Jensen, a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall. “It’s been really hard. People have been coming together, but at the same time, separated. Today, we didn’t want to be politically divided. We wanted to come together as a community”.

Her classmate, Ellen Kovats, added: “I don’t think it’s a political issue. I think it’s just the fact that as students, we deserve to go to a school and not be afraid of violence”.

Faith leaders and activists also gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, urging lawmakers to address gun safety during a potential special legislative session announced earlier this week by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

“The things that make America unique in terms of shootings is we just have more guns and the wrong kinds of guns that are on the streets,” Walz said Tuesday.

Republican leaders pushed back. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, criticized Walz’s plan as a “knee-jerk reaction,” outlining GOP priorities such as more funding for school resource officers and changes to Minnesota’s gender-affirming care laws.

The latter appeared linked to questions surrounding the gender identity of the Annunciation shooter, whose legal name and gender were changed in 2020.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus rejected calls for an assault weapons ban, saying lawmakers should instead “strengthen mental health resources, expand community support, and secure schools—steps that research shows actually work and will gain broad bipartisan support”.

Friday’s actions followed a week of demonstrations. On Wednesday, students at Minneapolis Catholic high school DeLaSalle marched from Nicollet Island to Gold Medal Park and the Hennepin County Government Center.

“After the incident at Annunciation, a lot of students, including ourselves, felt really restless,” said DeLaSalle senior Solveigh Bratulich. “We’ve heard a lot about thoughts and prayers, and thoughts and prayers not being enough, and it felt like we needed to do something.”

That same morning, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis livestreamed a rosary led by Archbishop Bernard Hebda with Catholic school students praying for the victims. Two students, Sophia Forchas and Lydia Kaiser, remain hospitalized, while classmates Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski were killed in the attack.

“I trust that we were joined today by Fletcher and Harper, who can be such powerful intercessors for us at this time,” Hebda said. “I know that the Lord hears the prayers of our young people”.