Students express support for gun rights during Colorado Springs event

Bringing balance to the ongoing gun control debate was the purpose of a brief student demonstration Wednesday at Discovery Canyon High School in north Colorado Springs.

At 10:30 a.m., 22 students gathered outside the main entrance, some holding signs and flags, to support the right to bear arms as provided in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

School officials kept media off the campus but later allowed a group of student leaders to speak about the event.

Students said their opinion is in the minority and has been overshadowed by a demand for more gun control in light of mass shootings at schools and other public areas.

Gabriel Paz Soldan, a student leader, was among the speakers.

“We need to represent both sides of the argument,” he said. “Not every student walking out, is doing so to support gun control. We’re against school shootings, but there needs to be a cultural shift. We need to stop blaming guns and start looking at mental health.”

Brett Gould, another student leader, agreed.

“There aren’t many of us with this perspective,” he said. “Maybe 40 in the entire school. But we don’t always get to speak our minds because we’re not considered politically correct.”

But the students who took part in the demonstration said it’s important that their voices, representing the opposing viewpoint, continue to be heard.

School officials said the students demonstrated during a free period and didn’t miss any class time.

More than 100 students participated in a gun control demonstration at the school in March.