Student leaders with March for Our Lives Iowa organized a protest in the Iowa Capitol in response to last week’s school shooting in Perry.
Samuel Sarmiento-Castaneda is a senior at East High in Des Moines where a drive-by shooting killed one student and injured two others in 2022.
“When both of those shooting happened my mom was very worried. She didn’t want me to go back to school,” he says. “She just wanted me to be very, very careful. She wanted me to keep my eyes open all the time — just be very aware. And I feel like that’s not something students should do at school. I feel like that’s not something students should worry about.”
March for Our Lives is calling for mandatory reporting of lost and missing firearms and allowing court orders to remove guns from people who are a threat to themselves or others. Trey Jackson of March for Our Lives Iowa read from a letter the group send Governor Reynolds. “Iowans have had enough of prayers. We need action,” he read. “You, Gov. Reynolds, have the power to create meaningful change. You have the power to save more lives from being senselessly stolen in this state.”
The 17-year-old student who killed a sixth grader and wounded seven others in Perry last week brought two guns into his high school. Officials have not said who owns the guns.
(Reporting by Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)