<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Courtesy of today’s (February 22,2018) Spokesman-Review.<div><br></div><div>———————————————</div><div><br></div><div><div><h1 class="f2 f1-l serif mt0 mb2" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, times, serif; line-height: 1.1; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-feature-settings: 'liga' 1, 'dlig' 1; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; font-size: 3rem; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Students ignite gun control debate at Cheney High School</h1></div><div><br></div><div>Dozens of Cheney High School students left their classrooms when the clock struck noon Wednesday and staged an hourlong demonstration in subfreezing temperatures, joining a wave of young people across the country who are demanding tighter restrictions on firearms.</div><div><br></div><div>The walkout could be the first of many similar demonstrations in the Spokane area, as student-activists coordinate on social media in the wake of yet another mass shooting on school grounds.</div><div><br></div><div>Last week’s attack at a high school in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 people, came five months after a sophomore boy opened fire at Freeman High School, just south of Spokane Valley.</div><div><br></div><div>Kyra Gardner, a 17-year-old junior who plays softball for Cheney High, said too many of her peers are indifferent about gun violence because the school has not been terrorized by a shooting spree.</div><div><br></div><div>“Some students just have the mindset that it doesn’t matter, it’s not us,” Gardner said. “Even though we’re not part of the statistic, it matters.”</div><div><br></div><div>She organized Wednesday’s walkout with Maura Duffy, a 15-year-old sophomore who’s active in the drama department. They also made flyers and plan to take part in demonstrations on March 14 and April 20 – the 19th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School.</div><div><br></div><div>“It’s time to break the old system, because parts of it just aren’t working,” Duffy said. “The most important thing we can do is speak up for ourselves.”</div><div><br></div><div>Sophomore Heavynne White was among those who gave impassioned speeches to her peers at Wednesday’s rally. She said she worries about her younger brother, a sixth-grader she called her “other half,” and what might happen if his school were attacked.</div><div><br></div><div>“It’s been scaring me to think that he might not come home,” White said.</div><div><br></div><div>Clara Shaw, a senior, also addressed the crowd, but she said guns aren’t the problem.</div><div><br></div><div>“It’s about bullying and social media,” she said. “It’s about how people are being treated.”</div><div><br></div><div>When classes broke for lunch, some students heckled the crowd with shouts about the Second Amendment, and a few called names.</div><div><br></div><div>Ryan Flick, a senior, stood just inside the front doors of the school, watching the demonstration with several other boys who identified themselves as gun owners.</div><div><br></div><div>“Teachers should have guns,” Flick said. And, “I think parents should teach their children how to use guns the right way.”</div><div><br></div><div>One boy said gun restrictions are largely fruitless because criminals can obtain guns illegally. Another chimed in, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.”</div><div><br></div><div>Troy Heuett, the school’s principal, stood by during the demonstration to make sure no arguments got out of hand.</div><div><br></div><div>“Students want their voices heard,” he said. “I think for everyone involved, their main concern is student safety.”</div></div><div><br></div><div>——————-</div><div><br></div><div>Cheney High School students stand outside the school entrance and take turns giving their thoughts on recent school shootings Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, during a lunch-hour walkout and protest.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_01.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_01.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_02.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_02.jpg</a></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_03.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_03.jpg</a></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_04.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_04.jpg</a></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_05.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Photos/SR/SR_022218_Cheney_GunControl_05.jpg</a></span></div><div><br></div><div>———————————————<br><br><div id="AppleMailSignature"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div></div></div></body></html>