EAST LANSING, Mich. – Most of the students at Michigan State University have been trained since childhood on how to handle an active shooter, and that’s a reality they say needs to change.
Hundreds of MSU students rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday before holding a silent sit-down on the steps and front entrance of the building in a protest calling on lawmakers to set aside their differences and get to work on new gun laws.
“Listen to us,” said Carl Austin Miller Grondin, an MSU senior. “We aren’t a statistic; This has happened too many times in our nation.”
Miller Grondin spoke to the crowd about being unable to reach his brother, who was in the basement of a building on campus during Monday’s shooting, not knowing that it was because a cell signal couldn’t get through and not because tragedy had found his family.
Read: 4 dead including suspect, 5 injured in shooting at Michigan State University
The rally was the first time many students had left their homes and dorms since the shooting.
Many held signs with messages like “It could have been me,” “How many more,” and “Our blood, your hands.” One held a sign saying, “I’ve been through this twice.”
“This is the least I could do,” said Maya Manuel, a junior at MSU who organized the rally. “As somebody who’s not with any organization or anything like that. I’m just me. A student at MSU. I’m just tired.”
New gun safety laws were a promised priority for the new Democratically controlled state government. In her State of the State address, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer vowed to do more with universal background checks, safe storage laws, and so-called red flag laws, which have been shown to work in deeply Republican states like Florida and Indiana.
“We must do more so the world our kids inherit is not more violent than the one we inhabit now,” said Whitmer in her address earlier this month.
On Wednesday, she recorded a separate video vowing “Get this done” but did not elaborate in the video on what that meant.
On the Republican side, lawmakers touted the work being done by a bipartisan school safety task force and highlighted bills on school safety measures and mental health.
The rally was emotional, with many students in tears, hugging one another. Many said they were angry and exhausted.
They had a message for lawmakers who didn’t join the rally and who might stand against them.
“Be prepared to be opposed to and prepare to lose,” Miller Grondin said. “You will be removed, or you will not have your office when the next election arises. We are here to fight.”
Watch: Vigil at Michigan State University ‘Rock’ in honor of students killed during mass shooting
Student organizer Maya Manuel says she’s so angry and so scared. She’s calling out the lawmakers who didn’t show to support them. “I am not a public speaker, I’m just angry” pic.twitter.com/JHQWImWqct
— Grant Hermes (@GrantHermes) February 15, 2023
