Activists, students, and local leaders gathered in Lansing, Michigan on last Monday demanding action for state and national legislation to end gun violence, a week after a gunman killed three students at Michigan State University and wounded others before fatally shooting himself.

The rally highlighted voices from students, teachers, and community leaders.

Nicole Cutler, a member of the Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools (MiPASS) expressed grief and frustration saying “For too long in Michigan, parents have waited and waited for politicians to put our children’s safety first, except that too many of those politicians were in the pockets of the gun lobby, while generations of children experience the trauma of lockdown drills, and worse, actual shootings.”

Olivia Upham was a teacher at Oxford High school near Detroit when a shooting in November of 2021 killed four students and injured more.

Upham recalled her experience at the rally where she was no more than three months into her teaching, “we locked down, we prayed, and we had vigils, we mourned for my community on November 30th, 2021.”