Hundreds of Dunwoody High School students and staff joined a nationwide walkout protest on March 14 to call for stricter gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.

Similar walkouts were planned at other local schools, including North Atlanta High in Buckhead and Atlanta Jewish Academy in Sandy Springs.

At Dunwoody High, students carried signs with such slogans as, “Protect kids, not guns” and “NRA = B.S., Gun control = Not B.S.”

The walkout came exactly one month after a gun-using killer massacred 17 people and wounded many others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Many surviving students at that school launched a gun control campaign and sparked national debate over the sale of the military-style rifle used by the killer.

The nationwide walkouts were generally inspired by the Women’s March, a liberal movement organized in Washington, D.C. that conducted a high-profile protest of President Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. The Women’s March offers an online protest “toolkit” and suggested the walkouts.

Photos by Phil Mosier

Parker Short, a sophomore, leads the protest with a megaphone. He was the student organizer of the walkout.
Sophomores Jack Warshal and Madison Pankey hold signs at the protest.
Hundreds of students walk out of Dunwoody High School during the protest.
Junior Denise Melendrez holds a sign criticizing the National Rifle Association.

John Ruch is an Atlanta-based journalist. Previously, he was Managing Editor of Reporter Newspapers.