Students take to the streets amid gun violence crisis

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - A pair of students in Jonesboro are wanting to have a peaceful conversation on gun violence.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, over 3,000 mass shootings have been reported since 2016. Mass shootings are defined as shootings where a minimum of four victims are shot, whether they are injured or killed, not including the shooter.

In 2023 alone, there have already been over 150 shootings, meaning there have been more shootings than days in the year.

High school students Faith Julian and Salem Calderon said they’re growing up in a time where gun violence is heard of often, and they don’t want to be a statistic.

“We are here to make the change that we want in the world and show everyone that we’ve had enough with gun violence,” Julian said.

The students, along with other members of the community, stood in front of the courthouse on Sunday, April 23 to make their voices heard.

“We’ve had a bunch of shootings this past week and they’ve been all over the news and no one is batting an eye toward it at all,” Julian said.

They also said they don’t want to protest the second amendment. Julian and her family own guns, but they want politicians to act.

“We want there to be better laws and better protection towards people who want to buy guns. I want better background checks,” she said.

“I want an open conversation because I can talk to people, and I can disagree with them but, it can be respectful, and it can be civil,” Calderon said.

They are still minors, so right now, they are making their voices heard on the street, but it won’t be long before they can vote and make their voices heard on the ballot.

“I can vote in the next presidential election, and I just know that I am going to be looking at every single detail to see who the best candidate will be,” Julian said.

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