While more than 200,000 protesters went to Washington DC according to Digital & Imaging Service Inc. to call for greater gun control and demand action from their legislators, over an estimated of 800 parallel marches were held across the country, including every state of the union. An estimated 5,000 people attended the March for Our Lives rally in Princeton that filled up Hinds Plaza by the public library, according to one of the event’s co-organizers, Reverend Bob Moore.
Princeton High School senior Dziyana Zubialevich, who spearheaded the rally in Princeton and collaborated with Reverend Moore said she expected only 500 to 800 people to show up.
“I had no idea it would be this successful. It’s amazing to see how many people support this issue,” she said.
Mobs of faces could be seen peering through windows of the second and third floors of the Princeton Library, taking pictures of the rally below and holding supportive signs. People in the lofts above Witherspoon Grill also stood outside their balconies to watch. One older couple posted a sign that read “thank you” on their railing.
Several people at the rally–both speakers and those who came simply to protest–have been personally affected by gun violence.
Diane and Gerry Novic of Hamilton said their grandson attends Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 students were killed last month in the shooting that led teenagers to start a movement. Though their grandson went unharmed, they were inspired to take up the cause.
“Nobody needs guns. Especially assault rifles,” Gerry Novic said. When asked if he had a message for lawmakers Novik added “Keep us safe. The law should have been changed years ago.”
Glenda Torres Scott, the mother of Benjamin DaVila, who back in 2012 was shot and killed at the age of 23 in Trenton, spoke at the rally. She is a member of Mercer Mom’s Demand Action, an organization committed to “gun violence prevention.” “I did not just lose my only son. I lost the opportunity to see him be a father, to see him mature, achieve all his goals,” Scott said.
Ben Bollinger, a leader of Princeton Against Gun Violence at Princeton University, spoke at the rally about a former classmate of his who took his own life with a gun.
“There’s something strikingly raw about the first time you lose someone you considered your peer. Something that makes the frailty of life much more tangible than you ever realized,” Bollinger said. When he heard about his former classmate’s suicide he said he “drove home and cried in the driveway.”
Joe Redmond, a senior at Princeton University who is studying chemical and biological engineering, survived the 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School in Colorado. He is also part of the Princeton Against Gun Violence group and spoke at the rally. He shared his story and said he believes it’s time to take action and change things.
Fighting tears, he said “For the longest hour of my life I crouched in fetal position frantically texting my family and friends that I loved them and that things would be okay without me. The fire alarm blared as the library of my school caught fire. I clasped my friend’s hand in a desperate attempt to stop hyperventilating. I was 18 and I felt the ceiling of death hovering over me. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end, I thought. I hadn’t even gotten into college yet.”
“I get the feeling that nothing is changing, but when I saw the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School standing up, I felt inspired by them and I said, enough is enough,” Redmond said.
Not everybody at the rally shared the same view on what to do about the country’s gun violence crisis.
Assemblyman Roy Freiman of the 16th Legislative District, who spoke at the rally, said he is a gun owner, and this proved to be a matter of controversy.
“Turn in your gun!” people yelled multiple times while Freiman was speaking.
A mother and daughter from Hopewell, Christina Schell, 47, and Emily Schell, 19, said they own guns, however, believe in responsible gun ownership.
Christina, who is an employee of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said people should be “trained to use them” and said she thought there should be national mandatory background checks.
Emily, who is a journalism major at Montclair State University, but taking some time off, said “It’s not that we’re trying to take away your guns. We’re just trying to make the world a safe place. I don’t see how anyone can be against that.”
A Mercer student who asked to stay anonymous wrote in a survey of 50 students conducted by The VOICE, “Gun violence is not an issue, mental health, poverty, bullying, illegal arms trade, government corruptions, and media misinformation are. Guns aren’t bad in good hands.”
Seventy-two percent of students surveyed said they think gun violence is a significant problem in the US, and 96 percent said there should be greater restrictions. These numbers reflect and, in fact, exceed overall US trends. According to a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 68 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws.
Angie Reyes, a Mercer student majoring in business wrote in the survey, “You must be pretty blind to say that USA does not have a gun problem.”
One speaker at the rally and co-organizer, Reverend Bob Moore, who for decades has been a gun control activist in New Jersey, acknowledged the political divide over gun policy in general and urged people at the rally to be patient, remain hopeful and seek bipartisan solutions.
“We can’t be absolutists and say that we’ve gotta get everything we ask immediately, or nothing is worthwhile,” Moore said.
“We want everyone to do the right thing, whether they’re Republican, or Democrat, or any other party!” he shouted.
The rally in Princeton did not consist merely of speeches. There was also music.
Beverly Owens, the Director of Music at the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church opened the event by singing “We Shall Overcome.”
Later, Guy DeRosa, Mercer professor of Political Science played harmonica, accompanying Bucks County Community College Professor of Philosophy and Religion David Brahinsky, who played guitar and sang “Lean On Me” as part of the demonstration.
Professor DeRosa wasn’t the only person from Mercer present at the rally. The manager of Mercer’s eatery Adele Staab was also there. “Enough is enough!” she said, expressing concern about her daughter who teaches second grade. She said of the students spearheading the “March for Our Lives” movement, “They’re so articulate. So adult.” She compared their activism to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
It’s not clear if the current activism will translate into votes come November, but 68 percent of Mercer students who participated in The VOICE survey said they are registered to vote, and another 24 percent are eligible to register but have not yet registered. Many of the March for Our Lives rallies included sign up areas for young people to register to vote.
Zubialevich says she wants to see more people exercising their right to vote. “I hope that the event today and the events all over the country encourage young people to go out and vote in the next election because historically there have been low voter turnouts for young people and, my generation, people my age, so I think it would be great to increase that and have our voices heard through marches, rallies, elections and any other ways possible,” she said.
