Some Logansport students for gun rights speak out against March For Our Lives

Common Sense Logansport, LHS students who kept their identities anonymous, had planned to have a walkout of sorts on Friday in the Berry Bowl. Their Instagram page stated the group was going to honor victims of school shootings and then discuss how to make schools safer.

The group doesn't support gun control and instead calls for enhanced background checks, a mental illness database and better government communication, according to online posts. They recently decided to call off the walkout because students didn't want to be absent from school.

Freshman Nick Yax said he doesn't affiliate with Common Sense Logansport, but he agrees with the group's platform on gun rights. Nick, 14, said the high school is about split on the number of students who side more on the conservative or liberal side of the nationwide gun debate, similar to its breakdown on those who supported the election of President Donald Trump in 2016.

In response to her peers marching in Logansport on Friday, sophomore Kali Slocum, 16, said writing letters to elected officials about how to change gun laws is a better solution than missing two to three hours of class time during the day.

“I feel like all these marches and stuff to end gun violence isn’t really going to help anything," Kali said, "because you’re taking time out of our school days to really not make much of a difference."

Nick said he doesn't believe gun control is a solution to curb mass shootings as many participants of student marches across the country propose. Instead, he said the government should work harder on eradicating illegal guns in the hands of criminals instead of focusing on changing guidelines for "law-abiding citizens."

People who lawfully have conceal and carry permits shouldn't have restrictions placed on them, Kali added, such as what type of gun they can or cannot own. She said if someone wants to use a gun to hurt people, they'll find a way to no matter what a law states.

“It isn’t really the gun necessarily that’s a problem," Kali said, "it’s the people who hold the guns."

Nick agreed.

“If there’s a bombing, we don’t blame the bomb. If there’s a car crash, we don’t blame the car, we blame the person," he said. "And then when these shootings happens, we blame the gun, not the person behind it. It’s a little bit hypocritical.” 

Both Nick and Kali said they know Logansport Community School Corp. is doing all they can to make the schools as safe as possible. Nick said the state is also working to address school safety when lawmakers hold a special session this summer to discuss upping funding for grants.

However, the students said there are still ways for the school to improve, notably during drills.

“We should treat our drills as if it’s a real thing that’s happening because we need to be prepared," Kali said. "Teachers continuing to teach their lesson through a drill is just not OK to me.”

Nick added that he doesn't think arming teachers with guns is a bad idea, but said teachers who would volunteer should not only have a gun permit but have to pass a school evaluation.

“I’m really not a big fan of the people who go and say, 'oh they just want teachers to carry guns,' because they’re not saying that," he said. "It’s somebody who’s trained to carry a gun.”

Although the issue of gun rights versus gun control is a divisive one, Nick said he hopes students on both sides of the matter can find middle ground, whether that's agreeing to create a mental illness database or having enhanced background checks on people purchasing guns.

"A lot time you can prevent these shootings because people make threats or they have a history of violence," Nick said. "And if somebody thinks that [another person] might be able to commit this, they should be able to go to somebody and say something."