Students Demand Action hold gun control rally on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON - The advocacy group Students Demand Action held a rally on Capitol Hill Monday urging lawmakers to pass common-sense gun control measures.

Many of those who protested today have either survived an attack or know someone who's been killed or injured. 

The rally included several volunteers from Students Demand Action wearing bulletproof vests. The organization said it wore the vests to make a powerful visual statement about what could soon become reality if the Senate fails to act. 

The event also featured speeches from student gun violence survivors and advocates as well as Senators Cory Booker, Chris Murphy, Richard Blumenthal, and Bob Menendez. 

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"It might be hard to look at, but we’re demanding that senators don’t look away from this deadly crisis that touches each of us in unique ways," said Jeannie She, a gun violence survivor and
member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board from Virginia Beach.

"With gun violence now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S, these are the measures families might need to take to keep us safe if the Senate doesn’t act to protect us," said Ade Osadolor, a Students Demand Action leader and student at the
University of Chicago from Southlake, Texas.

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Students Demand Action claims that is has been two and a half decades since the Senate passed major gun safety legislation, and that inaction has had deadly consequences. In a statement, the organization said, "With sales of bulletproof backpacks skyrocketing at retailers across the country, sadly today’s visual statement was not too far away from the current reality of our nation’s children."

On Wednesday, Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, are planning to hold a rally featuring elected officials and gun violence survivors and hundreds of volunteers at 11:00 am ET outside the U.S. Capitol.