Thousands of high school students across Georgia walked out of their classrooms on Sept. 20, demanding action in the wake of the mass-shooting at Apalachee High School. But the Cobb County School District, one of the largest in the state, threatened any participating students with suspension.
Before the walkout, the Cobb School District sent a notice warning students that participants “will, at minimum, be suspended,” It added that access to sports and other extracurriculars could also be affected. Cobb high schools could offer alternative options, such as a moment of silence, journaling, and writing letters to lawmakers, the notice said.
The walkouts were part of a larger movement organized by the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition (GYJC) to pressure Georgia lawmakers to pass stricter gun-control legislation. Later that day, GYJC held a rally at a park in Lilburn with students, community members, and lawmakers to encourage safe gun storage laws and universal background checks.
“My sister is a junior at Apalachee,” Layla Renee Contreras said at the rally, recounting the moment when she raced to the school after hearing about the shooting. “I used Find My iPhone to see if my sister was still moving—to see if she was still alive.”
Both Layla and her sister, Sasha Contreras, shared their frustration over the lack of meaningful action at Apalachee High School following the tragedy. “No substantial changes have been made to prevent weapons from entering the school,” said Layla. “There has been no opportunity for parents to weigh in on short-term or long-term safety measures.”
Sasha added that discussions about adding more school resource officers felt more like a response to future incidents and did not address the root causes of gun violence. “There is nothing being done to prevent such a tragedy from occurring … And part of our school is blocked off as if nothing ever happened.”
Legislative action?
The rally also featured speeches from local lawmakers, including State Sen. Nikki Merritt (D-Lawrenceville). She urged the state legislature to stop stalling and pass meaningful gun law reforms. “We can no longer continue to ignore the death and the grief of our students and our children, and we must address the safety of our schools in this state,” Merritt said.
Merritt advocated for state lawmakers to pass the Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act at the start of the upcoming 2025 legislative session, calling it “a first step in the right direction.” She also criticized Georgia for having some of the weakest gun laws in the nation – and blamed her Republican colleagues, who hold a majority in both the state House and Senate, for refusing to even debate proposals or participate in hearings on gun control.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark (D-Lilburn) also called out GOP lawmakers for their failure to act to prevent gun violence. “We are unfortunately here once again because of policy failure,” Clark said. “The youth today are here because the adults in the room aren’t listening. They just want to go to school to learn … Instead, they are having to wonder if they will even have a future.”
Clark and Merritt advocated for several gun-control measures, including universal background checks, safe-storage and red-flag laws. “These are bills my Democratic colleagues in the state House and state Senate have introduced, and these are bills that have been wildly ignored,” Clark said.
“They won’t even let us have a conversation about it, they won’t hold a hearing,” she said, referring to the Republican legislators controlling both chambers.
Georgia’s Republican lawmakers have largely opposed efforts to regulate guns, opting instead to bolster security at schools. The security measures and quick response time at Apalachee High School have been credited with preventing 14-year-old Colt Gray, the suspected shooter, from inflicting worse carnage than the four deaths and nine injuries he caused with an AR-15 style rifle.
In the wake of the shooting, House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) avoided any gun-control proposals. Instead, he promoted measures to expand access to mental health counselors in schools, improve communication between police and school officials, and better detect guns entering schools. He also reiterated a proposal for a tax credit of up to $300 for people who buy gun safes or take courses on gun safety.
All of Georgia’s state legislators are up for reelection on Nov. 5.
Suspension? better than getting shot.