Free Press

Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Brandon McKenney

Media Credit: Brandon McKenney

Media Credit: Brandon McKenney

Twenty students laid down for three minutes on the sidewalks outside Luther Bonney last Wednesday in a silent protest against handgun violence and U.S. gun laws. It happened on Wednesday because that was the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre; it lasted three minutes because that's the amount of time it took the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, to purchase his handgun.

"Handgun violence is really a prevalent issue at this time," said senior Lael Bolduc, one of the protest organizers. "It's time for students to take a stand one way or another."

To the protestors and the small crowd, which included local news media, Bolduc explained that it's important for students to speak out and make their voices known.

"The more you can discuss things, the better they will get," she said.

The protest was as much a remembrance of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history as it was against the ease of purchasing firearms: students wore purple and orange ribbons and formed the letters 'VT' on the ground with their bodies.

Two protestors stood over the formation holding a banner that read "ProtestEasyGuns.com."

The protest was a joint effort by a group called Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence and USM students, many of whom had found out about the protest through a group on Facebook.

The Maine Citizens group staged a similar protest last August in Monument Square.

USM student Erica Robertson found out about the group through an article in the Portland Press Herald, and joined so as to be active on an issue for which she is concerned. "It's affecting students nationwide," said Robertson. "If we don't act, who else is going to?"

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