After School Walkouts, Will Lawmakers Do Anything About Gun Violence?

“I know people who have been shot, I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost cousins,” says student Imani Harris.

Walkout Cass Tech 3

Bre’Anna Tinsley / WDET

Lawmakers in Lansing continue to debate legislation to crack down on gun violence. That’s as students across the state and the country walked out of class this week to demand action and to honor the victims of the Parkland, Florida school shooting last month.

WDET’s Jake Neher and Michigan Public Radio’s Cheyna Roth talk about the walkouts and what lawmakers might do to respond to these tragedies.

Click here to hear more of WDET’s coverage of this week’s school walkouts

Imani Harris is a senior at Renaissance High School in Detroit. She spoke with Neher this week prior to the walkout she organized at the school. She says she’s tired of adults suggesting that she’s an unwitting pawn in an effort by gun control advocates to take away Second Amendment rights.

“I know people who have been shot, I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost cousins,” says Harris. “So it’s like, nobody can control me into saying that gun control is necessary or that gun violence is a bad thing.”

“When you’ve seen family members that are only 16 (years old) die of gun violence, nobody needs to tell me that’s a bad thing, I know that’s a bad thing,” she says.

Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.

Authors

  • Cheyna Roth is the co-host and creator of WDET's state politics podcast, MichMash. She has been an audio journalist for almost a decade, covering major events like presidential elections, college scandals, the Michigan Legislature and more, appearing on NPR and across Michigan public radio stations. Cheyna is also a senior producer and podcast host for Slate.com, having produced and hosted shows like Political Gabfest, The Waves, and What Next TBD. Also an author, Cheyna has written two true crime books and her written work has appeared in Broadly, Slate, and MLive, among others.
  • Jake Neher is senior producer for Detroit Today and host of MichMash for 101.9 WDET. He previously reported on the Michigan Legislature for the Michigan Public Radio Network.