Bay Area students head to Sacramento to push for gun control

OAKLAND, Calif. - About 300 students from all over the Bay Area will travel to the state capital Thursday meet with state legislators urging them to support stricter gun legislation.

Oakland Tech sophomore class president Samuel Getachew, 15, said that he and his peers from 10 other schools want to stand a real stand.

"For decades, schools have been the object of excessive gun-related violence, while legislators have done little to restrict access to guns," the organizers of Bay Area Student Activists (BAStA), said in a statement.

Specifically, Getachew and the students who created the group are lobbying for  AB2497 (Firearms: School gun violence prevention) and other bills that would increase gun controls. The group said they launched the group with the "immediate goal of uniting student activists on gun control to coordinate this movement going forward on a regional level, with all the diverse population of young people represented."

The catalyst for their political activism?

The Valentine's Day school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which resulted in 17 student and staff deaths, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

While tragic, Getachew and his peers in the Bay Area said this tragedy "set off an wave of political action by high school students themselves. This incredible mobilization of young people has resulted in student-led walkouts and marches around the United States." 

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED: Students interested in this movement should follow BAStA on Instagram (bayareastudentactivists) and Twitter (@bastactivists), and should contact bayareastudentactivists@gmail.com to get involved. The group is also fundraising for their travels.