Student protest outside the White House a snapshot of American gun debate
WASHINGTON — A snapshot of America’s gun debate unfolded outside the White House on Wednesday, on the fringes of a youth-led march where teenaged demonstrators drew cheers from adult bystanders and horn-blasts of support from motorists.
Nijier Coates felt like an outlier.
The 16-year-old high school student favours gun rights, he’s been shooting for years, has a dad in the military, a mom in federal security and he made clear why he was attending this gun-control march: “I’m just here with my friends.”
It was one of several protests across the country, as schools in Maryland and Virginia saw students — outraged over last week’s massacre of 17 students and teachers at a Florida high school — spill out to voice their impatience with generations of politicians who have resisted taking meaningful action on gun control.