ATLANTA — Stop School Shootings Now is calling for kids and adults to stay home next Tuesday, May 21, as part of the organization’s first ever #Enough National Shutdown Day. The organization said it wants to focus national attention on school shootings “and invite Americans to stand in solidarity to finally create change.”
Founder Clare Schexnyder, who helped organize the National School Walkout on March 14, 2018, says, “The time to act is now. It’s time to shut the country down, and come together as a nation to demand Congress vote immediately on gun laws with teeth. We can’t save every life, but forcing our lawmakers to act will be a serious start. We can’t wait any longer.”
In addition to staying home from work and school, the group is asking people to wear red and attend a noon rally at a state capitol, city hall or school.
Thus far, no rallies or gatherings are being publicized on the organization’s website or any of its social media accounts. May 21 is also near the end of many metro Atlanta school calendars, with several students now in their final-exam phases. The organization said its Atlanta chapter “will be helping to organize young people around Georgia to rally on May 21.”
The group is calling for universal background checks in all 50 states; banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines; and start a gun buyback program using military spending budgets.
One of the most recent school shootings in the nation happened earlier this month in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, when Devon Erickson allegedly killed one student and injured eight others at STEM School Highlands Ranch. The attack occurred within weeks of the 20th anniversary of the deadly April 20, 1999, massacre at Columbine High School, which is about 7 miles away from STEM School Highlands Ranch.
Coloradans were already on edge after the FBI warned last month that Sol Pais, a Florida teenager “obsessed” with Columbine posed a credible threat to Denver-area schools. She flew to Denver and bought a shotgun, triggering a massive manhunt. Pais was found dead, and authorities ruled her death a suicide.
Patch’s Jean Lotus contributed to this report.