Shorewood and Rufus King students march on Columbine anniversary as they seek to 'end gun violence in this country'

MILWAUKEE - About 200 students from Shorewood, Rufus King and other Milwaukee-area high schools walked out of school for a gun reform rally on April 20, which marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Cars honked in support as the students held a rally with student speakers at the base of Lake Park along Lincoln Memorial Drive. The students then marched, with escort from police, to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where the YWCA of Milwaukee led educational sessions about race, privilege, social justice and peace-building.

The walkout was organized by Shorewood High School senior Katie Eder and Rufus King High School junior Tatiana Washington. The two met during the March for Our Lives: 50 Miles More march that saw students walk from Madison to House Speaker Paul Ryan's hometown of Janesville in late March in a call for gun reform.

Washington said she and Eder decided to join forces for the Columbine anniversary walkout to show that suburban and city schools are in the same fight to end gun violence. Students from Whitefish Bay and other MPS schools also participated.

Washington said Rufus King students decided to bus instead of walk to the rally at Lake Park, because of the prevalent gun violence on Milwaukee's north side. Rufus King is a block north of 18th Street and Capitol Drive.

"We are uniting ... to show gun violence has no district lines," Washington said. "Today we come together, despite where we live and go to school, to show that we have had enough."

Eder organized the 50 Miles More march, as well as Shorewood High School's protest on National School Walkout Day on March 14. She said the student gun reform activists don't plan to stop marching any time soon.

"We must continue to walk out," Eder said. "We must continue to march. We must continue to raise our voices to show politicians and America that we aren't going anywhere. The truth is we're not going to stop caring about this issue. Unlike a lot of adults, we have a lot of energy, and we're willing to stretch that energy from here to the November elections and beyond."

RELATED: Students gather at Milwaukee County Courthouse on 19th anniversary of Columbine shooting

What started out as a movement motivated by school shootings, gun reform and the National Rifle Association's political power has expanded to encompass the issue of gun violence in general. Instead of limiting their scope to preventing gun violence in schools, Eder said suburban and urban students should join together to end violence throughout the entire Milwaukee area.

"While students at Shorewood High School are not impacted in the same way that students from Rufus King are, we are dedicated to putting an end to these senseless deaths," Eder said. "When we say we want an end to gun violence in this country, we mean we want an end to all gun violence in this country."

The 50 Miles More group has outlined six policy demands on its website, bit.ly/50MilesMoreMission. The group calls for the ban of military-style weapons; the ban of bump stocks and other accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons; a four-day waiting period on all gun purchases; required background checks on all gun sales; and raising the legal purchasing age of all guns to 21.

Looking forward, Eder and other 50 Miles More organizers have challenged student activists in all 50 states to organize a 50-mile march to the hometown or offices of their state's elected representatives. Pennsylvania is the first state to accept their challenge, and is scheduled to start marching May 3 from U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's hometown to his office in Philadelphia.