Minn. Students, Lawmakers Participate In National 'Town Hall For Our Lives'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The call for gun reform went on at town hall meetings across Minnesota Saturday.

There were town halls hosted in St. Paul, Brooklyn Park and Sunfish Lake.

The room inside St. Anne's Episcopal Church was packed with students and community members, ready to let their voices be heard on gun reform.

"It's raising awareness to our politicians that we aren't quitting and that we want to open this dialogue up," Henry Sibley senior Devin Bauert said.

The town hall featured several lawmakers including Sen. Matt Klein, Sen. Jim Carlson and Congressional candidate Angie Craig.

The student group MNeverAgain, which organized the town hall, said they had invited representatives Regina Barr and Jason Lewis but they did not attend.

"What specific steps can we make now to move forward in making common sense gun laws?" one student asked.

"Put some pressure on the people that are behind here that are not here. They need to know that you're fervent about it, that you're not afraid and that you want to work with them," Carlson said.

The young faces behind the town hall are no strangers to the issue of gun control reform.

WCCO followed the Henry Sibley High School students' journey all the way to D.C. last month.

They were among hundreds of thousands of people taking part in the March for Our Lives on Washington.

The students say the march and town hall are only the beginning of an ongoing push to get young people involved in politics.

"We are giving them the voice and we are telling them that they can use it and that they will be heard," Jorge Esparza Hernandez said.

The students said just this week they formed a new board that will handle planning future marches, forums and events all in favor of promoting changes to the current gun laws. They said their next project will be to plan something for April 20, which marks 19 years since the Columbine shooting.