Scenes from the March for Our Lives in Montpelier Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

It wasn’t quite as historic as the Women’s March in January 2017, but the March for Our Lives gun control rally attracted at least 2,000 people to Montpelier Saturday. The crowd spilled down from the Statehouse steps, all the way back to State Street. Most gathered on the paved surfaces, but many stood in the snow in the chilly sunshine.

Handmade signs were everywhere. Giant banners hung near the front, in the unmistakable style of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Middle school, high school and college students gathered in great numbers, but the crowd ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens — some of whom were part of the protest movements of the 1960s.

“I grew up during the demonstrations and protests,” said Kate Rader of East Montpelier, who was carrying a banner from the League of Women Voters. “At the very least, we’re modeling how to bring about change in a peaceful, loud and bold way.” Her fellow banner carrier, Madeline Motta of Stowe, hoped that students’ engagement in gun protests would lead to activism at the ballot box in November.

The Montpelier rally was one of at least 800 events around the world. The largest, in Washington, D.C., attracted hundreds of thousands. For some at the local event, it’s an issue with personal, as well as political, dimensions.

“There has been a gun threat recently at my school,” said Renee Bamford, who attends Essex High School. “Every time you see someone open a door, your heart kind of skips a beat.”

Brigitte Riordan attends the University of Vermont; she grew up in Las Vegas, and experienced last October’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival from a heartrending distance. “I knew several people who were at the festival. I didn’t know anyone who was shot, but it was definitely very intense,” she said. “It was difficult to be [in Burlington]; I was aching for my community.”

“I’ve gone through my whole life having to do code-red drills,” said UVM student Jasmine Stein, who grew up in the Washington area in the aftermath of the D.C. sniper shootings. “We need common sense gun reform.”

Students without that kind of direct experience said they are still deeply affected. “This has gone on too long,” said Siyanda Jacobs of Wardsboro. “There should have been gun control since [the] Columbine [school shooting in 1999]. Kids shouldn’t have to fear going to school. That’s a place to learn.”

At least a dozen state lawmakers were on hand, the morning after a marathon 10-hour debate in the House led to approval for S.55, a bill that includes multiple gun restrictions. When asked if the rally was a validation of the previous day’s work, Rep. Mary Hooper (D-Montpelier) said, “Absolutely, but we need to keep working on this. Listen to the kids and do the right thing.”

One of those kids trying to make a difference was 13-year-old gubernatorial candidate Ethan Sonneborn of Bristol, who attended the rally to show support for the issue and for youth activism in general.

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” he said. “I wish it didn’t take a tragedy like Parkland to bring young people together like this. But while we’re in this moment, it’s a great opportunity to make change.”

After an hour or so of speakers, the vast majority of them students, the rally ended peacefully. Those in attendance walked past tables staffed by advocacy groups, urging them to continue their activism and register to vote. Which may be the ultimate test of this movement: Can it turn a generation of young people into active participants in the political process?

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John Walters was the political columnist for Seven Days from 2017-2019. A longtime journalist, he spent many years as a news anchor and host for public radio stations in Michigan and New Hampshire. He’s the author of Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives, published by Plaidswede Press.

32 replies on “Walters: Thousands Attend March for Our Lives Rally in Montpelier”

  1. Doom. Seven Days doens’t do facts, just propaganda and fairy tales. It’s time their advertisers are made aware of the type of company they are supporting.

  2. I’ve yet to see an article about actual homicide and violent crime rates, here or in the nation from seven days.
    Something that should matter if you want to pass laws

  3. To those of you who are coming here or came here and our trying to change around our way of living. Why is that acceptable? Why is it okay for people to move here and change the way Vermont is? I grew up here. We took our guns to school, we left them leaning against the school building. No one came in and took them. Why? Because we respected each others properties and lives. We were brought up with morals understanding the difference between right and wrong.

  4. Ah, the last miserable snowfakes of Spring in Vermont. Looking forward to hot Summer target practice. New gun classes, newly built target ranges, certificates earned certifying competency, school competitions in target shooting, and armed employees in schools…. all these things need to be strongly promoted now to get the dangers of passive submission out of Vermont. Make Vermont Strong Again… safe and affordable.

  5. There is more of a violent threat to their daily lives and it is called texting and driving. From a 2016 study 68% of teens text and drive, how much has that increased in 2 years. You want to make a difference in your lives without taking away my constitutional right, fight the smartphone. That is your threat daily.

    I find the youth hypocritical. How about we all be responsible for our own lives.

    All they are looking for is their 15 minutes of fame.

  6. Does it matter that there were cars with out of state plates in the parking lot? No. The violence and death that comes from the barrels of these weapons is a national and a human problem.
    Attempting to dismiss the significance of the movement against the insanity that surrounds this issue by such camouflage is an act of desperation. The NRA and its supporters, primarily the gun lobby, at least financially, are on the wrong side of this issue and they know is, but they don’t care as long as they can profit. It’s not “freedom” that drives them, it’s blood money and profiting from the continued desecration of schools, the murder of children and the breakdown of civility and trust.

  8. Thousands! Are you kidding me? There weren’t even a few hundred there. Look at the webcam images from the camera way up on the hill in front of the capitol building. Seven Days Vermont, bringing their biased story telling to whole new levels. The propaganda machine is churning full throttle.

  9. KDinVT – Did it not occur to you that some of those in attendance were college students? If you spend any time in Chittenden County, you’ll see lots of out of state lates. Must everything be a conspiracy? Shame on you for jumping to conclusions.

  10. I’ve got to ask how many of those thousands were Vermonters. I live in Montpelier, and rather than missing the mob of cars by going through National Life I ran into it. Out of curiosity I swung through the parking lot. I saw a lot of out of state license plates, maybe 20%. That tells me that there really was people from out of state, either volunteering themselves or being recruited.

    Regardless of your stance on this issue, if you are intellectually and emotionally honest with yourself, out of state protestors to swell a rally is dirty politics. I’ve been politically active my entire life, and I’ve never gone to a rally in a neighboring state to add my weight to to the scale, nor have I ever been asked to do so. Shame on the organizers, and shame on anyone who thinks that this is an OK to manage VT politics.

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