Around 20 students from all schools in the Santa Maria HS District gathered at the corner of Bradley & Clark in Orcutt to protest for better gun reform and an end to gun violence. The Santa Maria Times, KSBY, and the Santa Maria Sun attended the march to interview and take pictures of the students marching, commemorating this march to the the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting where 13 people were killed. One of the banners depicted the 13 names of the youth that were tragically killed in the shooting that happened in Columbine, less than 20 years ago. While the students marched, they chanted “enough is enough,” and “hey hey NRA, how many kids have you killed today?” in a meaningful power walk across the intersection in Orcutt; cars passing by honked in approval or disdain and some screamed angrily at the students. At 3:30, 3 students went up to give their speeches, fellow PV student Zander Moreno was one of them. He mentioned the names of victims taken by police brutality and gun violence in their own community, specifically people of color and trans women. Bella Blanco, an organizer of Santa Maria Valley United and a student at Santa Maria HS, recounted the gun threat that prompted her school to be on lockdown and how scary it was for her sister and parents. Natalie Tayahua, also an organizer of the march and a student at Saint Joseph HS, congratulated all of the students for bringing their force and attending the march; she was thankful and wanted to commemorate the march to all the lives lost to gun violence in our community. After the speeches and march, students had the opportunity to pre-register/ register to vote; during and after turning 18, students will automatically be able to vote in the elections.

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