Bonded in Tragedy

Columbine and Parkland Students Rally Together on 19th Anniversary

Gun-control campaign keeps up momentum ahead of midterm elections.

Survivors of the Parkland and Columbine school shootings joined together to campaign for stricter gun laws on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School that left 13 people dead. Parkland students, along with Columbine survivors, victims’ families, current students and members of the surrounding community in Littleton, Colorado, gathered Thursday night in a park near the school. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School junior Kayla Schaefer, one of 60 Parkland students who made the trip to Colorado for the tragic anniversary, told CNN: “I feel like we’re both kind of going through the same thing. They went through it a long time ago, but we’re going through it now—so they understand what we are going through.” Students from 2,500 schools are planning a walkout Friday morning to commemorate Columbine and to demand stricter gun controls, though Columbine classes are canceled every year on the anniversary of the shooting and students are urged to take part in community service.