“What do we want?”

“Gun control!”

“When do we want it?”

“Now!”

Marching through the Georgia State Capitol with banners calling for an end to gun violence, a group of nearly 30 Morgan Oliver School students and parents mobilized on the morning of September 19. Their “Unacceptable” school walkout aimed to draw attention to the issue of gun violence and the need for legislative reform. The students spoke in front of lawmakers and opened the Georgia legislative session where lawmakers discussed critical firearm safety measures. State Rep. Kim Schofield (D-Stone Mountain) commended the students for showing up and voicing their concerns.

“You are the voice today that makes adults listen,” she said. “Thank you for being the heroes today.”  

Students at Morgan Oliver, an anti-racism school for students of all backgrounds grades kindergarten through eighth, were impacted by the tragic school shooting earlier this month. Colt Gray, an Apalachee High ninth grader, entered the Barrow County high school with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle, killing four and injuring nine others. He is charged as an adult with four counts of murder.

His father also faces charges—including two counts of second-degree murder and four counts of involuntary manslaughter—for allowing his 14-year-old son to possess a weapon. The shooting at Apalachee is one of the latest on record in the country. As of September 5, at least 11,598 people have died from gun violence in the U.S. this year. That’s an average of almost 47 deaths each day, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an online archive of gun violence incidents collected from more than 7,500  law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence.

For Amber Humphries, a mother of two kids who attend East Atlanta’s Oliver Morgan School, what happened at Apalachee High School was too close to home. “How can you send them to school, knowing they may not come home?” 

She recalled being a high school student when the Columbine shooting happened.

“There’s no reason why an average person should have a semi-automatic or automatic weapon,” Humphries said during the walkout. “You need it for hunting reasons, that’s fine, but you would need a background check to make sure you use it correctly.”

Georgia’s Current Gun Laws

Georgia, which is considered a pro-gun state, does not have universal background checks for gun purchase or safe storage laws. Moreover, laws such as Senate Bill 218 permit individuals who are licensed to carry a weapon in another state to do so here in Georgia. In 2022, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law that allowed most Georgia residents to carry a firearm without a concealed carry permit. He heralded the expansion of gun rights in the state. “SB 319 makes sure that law-abiding Georgians–including our daughters and your family, too–can protect themselves without having to ask permission from state government.” 

The law prohibits an adult from “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” selling or giving a handgun to a minor. There are some exceptions, including if a minor is attending a hunting or firearms course, practicing on a range, participating in a competition, or if the minor is at home and has parental permission to access the weapon. Those exceptions do not apply if the minor is convicted of a forcible felony like murder. Democrats have long advocated for safe storage laws, background checks, and red flag laws. In the last legislative session, out of 34 gun measures proposed, only one passed: House Bill 1018, a Republican bill outlawing discrimination against the firearms industry. 

Lawmakers are considering policies to expand mental health care for students, require safe gun storage and prevent guns from entering schools in the first place. In the aftermath of the Apalachee High School shooting, State Sen. Emanuel Jones, who chairs the Senate Safe Firearm Storage Study Committee, encouraged the public to speak up on these issues at last week’s meeting.

 “I would certainly encourage anyone that’s attending this meeting to freely speak to the press about your feelings in regards to firearm safe storage and I think that’s important because this moment in Georgia’s history requires us to speak up and to speak out.”

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. Sofia Chaudhary, a pediatric emergency physician who testified during the Georgia legislative session, has witnessed the effects of that violence firsthand. 

“Over the past 15 years, I have worked in emergency departments at leading pediatric trauma centers and, during that time, the frequency in which my colleagues and I have cared for children with gunshot wounds has skyrocketed,” she said. “We’ve gone from treating every three months to multiple times a week.”

Students, parents and other advocates for gun law changes spoke and sported signs demanding change during the legislative session Thursday, September 19, at the Georgia Capitol.  (Angie Uddullah)

Student Concerns Led to Legislation

Prior deadly shootings across the country have ignited intense legislative efforts for gun safety. The Parkland shooting, which killed 17 people in Florida, spurred a wave of student-led protests and gun control legislation. The state raised the age to buy firearms, took guns away from people deemed to be a threat, and increased mental health resources for students.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act also allows some teachers to be armed. The school shooting in  Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people were killed, brought about the first major federal gun safety law in decades. Enacted in June 2022, Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the law supports but does not require red flag laws, which allow state courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others. Additionally, the act also provides funding for school safety and state crisis intervention programs. 

In Georgia, parents are also demanding gun safety measures. Lyndsey G., a Southwest Atlanta parent whose son and daughter attend Morgan Oliver school, said,“We have a huge opportunity to do a lot better. Regulations are needed.” She believes common sense gun laws should be implemented.

Another parent of two, Amy Derrick, from Decatur, said she believes the tragedy at Apalachee High School requires action not “prayers.”

“People say their thoughts and prayers but it takes actions and it takes change,” Derrick said. “I hope that Kemp doesn’t look past what’s happening and that he will do what’s best for the state.”

Holding his letter in front of legislators, seven-year-old Francis Willsea-Rehrig read aloud, “I think the new laws should be that you cannot have a gun without a background check. So many people have died and you do nothing about it. You have the power to stop it all but you don’t. Come on. You are better than this.” 

Editor: Stephanie Toone and Heather Buckner 

Fact checker: Julianna Bragg