Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'We're Tired Of Adults Not Making It Happen': Students Across Country Walk Out To Protest Gun Violence
The Washington Post: Thousands Of Students Walk Out Of School In Nationwide Gun Violence Protest
Tens of thousands of students across the country walked out of their classrooms Wednesday and onto athletic fields and city streets as part of a massive national protest on gun violence spurred by a Florida high school shooting a month ago that left 17 dead. The walkouts, which came 10 days before a march on Washington that could draw hundreds of thousands of students to the nation’s capital, are unprecedented in recent American history, not seen in size or scope since student protests of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. (Heim, Lang and Svrluga, 3/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Students Protest Gun Violence In National School Walkout
Far from big cities, in rural states with high levels of gun-ownership, students protested. Anna Strong Garcia, a 17-year-old senior at Billings Senior High School, said, “We don’t expect Montana to be the leader in gun-control laws, but we don’t want to be left behind.” More than 3,000 registered demonstrations took place in all 50 states, according to organizers with Women’s March Youth Empower, which helped coordinate the “#Enough” school walkouts. It put the initial tally at nearly 1 million and said it was still counting. About 56 million students attend pre-K through 12th grade in public and private schools, according to federal data. (Campo-Flores, 3/14)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Students Join Nationwide Walkouts And Actions To Remember Parkland Victims, Push Gun Control
At Hamilton High School, the protest began with a young man and a bullhorn. Ari Elkins, a senior, stood on the front lawn of his Palms school and in a voice both firm and loud, cried out: "No more silence! End gun violence!" Seconds later, hundreds of his fellow students came pouring out the building's double doors. (Jennings, Kohli, Blume and Bermudez, 3/14)
Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Student Walkout Protest: Thousands Honor Florida Victims
Student walkouts across the nation were billed as a mass protest against the National Rifle Association and a call for stricter gun control measures in response to the February shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead. (Lillis, Lambert, Chabria and Kobin, 3/14)
Texas Tribune: Spring Break Dampens Texas Participation In Student Walkouts Protesting Gun Violence
Students around the nation walked out of their classrooms at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes, symbolically honoring the 17 lives that were lost in last month's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. While organizers expected Texas students to join in, most schools were on spring break, so there were no classes to walk out of. (Greene, 3/14)
Arizona Republic: Students Hold Sit-In At Gov. Doug Ducey's Office, Protest Gun Violence
About 45 students in white T-shirts marched into the lobby of Gov. Doug Ducey's office Wednesday, demanded to speak to him about gun violence in schools and chanted when the governor did not make an appearance. They stayed for nearly two hours and past the time the building closed. (Randazzo and Nicla, 3/14)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: 'This Is Just The Start': Thousands Of Richmond-Area Students Walk Out Of School To Protest Gun Violence
[Catherine] Qian was one of hundreds of students across the Richmond region who walked out of their classes at 10 a.m. Wednesday, a month after the mass shooting at the Florida high school, to call on lawmakers to take action against the gun violence that continues to claim so many lives in the U.S. (Mattingly, 3/14)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Concord High School Students Share 17 Minutes Of Silence For Parkland Victims
Students across the country are marking one month since the Parkland, Florida, school shooting left 17 dead. Today, more than a thousand Concord High students stood outside at 10 a.m., the morning after a snowstorm hit the northeast. It was still snowing lightly as students held 17 minutes of silence to commemorate the 17 killed in Parkland and read the names of those lost. (Garrova, 3/14)
Boston Globe: Here’s One Of The Best Things Schools Can Do To Prevent Mass Shootings
Debate is fierce over whether other measures — such as stricter gun laws, school building security systems, or armed teachers and guards — can make a difference when it comes to preventing school shootings. But a broad consensus of researchers, government agencies, and advocacy groups agree that well-run threat assessment teams have proven to be an effective step. (Rocheleau, 3/14)
Wyoming Public Radio: Uinta #1 Approves Guns In Schools
Uinta County School District #1 voted late Tuesday evening to put guns in the hands of teachers and staff. The district is the first in Wyoming to act on legislation passed last year to let local school districts decide whether to permit concealed carry in schools. (Watson, 3/14)
The Associated Press: Gun Control Bills Winding Through Delaware Legislature
Several gun control bills advanced through the Delaware legislature on Wednesday as lawmakers take aim at restricting weapon sales and ensuring those deemed potentially dangerous for mental health reasons do not have access to firearms. With little discussion, a Senate committee released a bill defining bump stocks, trigger cranks and similar devices as “destructive weapons” whose sale or possession is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. (Chase, 3/14)
