Local high school students gather outside Long Beach City Hall Friday afternoon to protest gun violence. Photos by Angela Truong.

On the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, dozens of Long Beach high school students took part in a nationwide walkout movement and gathered at city hall today to protest gun violence.

They came from schools like Cabrillo, Lakewood, Poly and Millikan, with some students taking public transportation to make it downtown at noon.They continued their call for safety on campus and to call out the failure of elected officials to take action on gun violence.

“I’m hoping that Congress will finally realize that we’re not going to stop until we see change and I hope that maybe they’ll even do something because of how stubborn we’re being,” said Janice Mendez, a Lakewood High student who is also part of Californians for Justice. “We’re the generation that’s going to make a change, whether they like it or not.”

Long Beach Unified School District Board President Megan Kerr was also in attendance to show her support for common-sense gun legislation.

More than 2,000 walkouts were planned nationally, with at least one in every state, according to organizers of the National School Walkout, who said the event is student-motivated.

“I’m honestly very excited because it’s not just our school, it’s multiple schools, so it really shows that everybody feels the exact same way and is more than willing to support each other protesting on what we believe in,” said Millikan High student Evelyn Nunez.

Trevor Schnack, who goes to school at California Academy of Math and Science, said students from all 12 Long Beach high schools were able to organize today’s event through March For Our Lives Long Beach, which he is a part of, as well as through social media and word of mouth. Some students even secured TAP cards to provide alternative modes of transportation for other students.

Schnack said some of the groups’ demands include mandating that all gun transactions be carried out by a federally-licensed gun dealer, which would bring about universal background checks and eliminate the so-called “gun show loophole,” and banning semi-automatic rifles capable of accepting higher than .22 caliber ammunition, among other policy changes.

Locally, some students were also protesting LBUSD’s recent decision to cut Campus Safety Officer positions at some high schools.

LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou said that during Wednesday’s regular LBUSD school board meeting, four CSO positions were cut, including one each at Poly, Millikan and Stephens. An 80 percent CSO position was also reduced to 50 percent at Jefferson, he said.

“We started the protest about gun reform and try to make our school feel safer for us so we can get our education so how is it even a good idea to cut security when we’re already scared and afraid for our lives?” asked Nunez. “That’s just going to make us more scared and make our school have chaos.”

Eftychiou told the Post that large high schools in the district have multiple campus security officers who carry radios and assist with supervising students. They aren’t armed, though high schools also have armed officers (?), he added.

“As with other staffing, each year the school district and school sites review staffing levels,” Eftychiou said  “Additions or reductions in staff are routinely based upon a quota system that takes into account the projected number of students on the campus.  Fewer personnel are warranted when enrollment declines, and we must reconcile the commensurate reduction in state funding with a reduction in staff.”

Today’s student walkout follows a nationwide school walkout that took place March 14—one month after over a dozen students were killed in a school shooting in Florida—and a weekend demonstration on March 24.

Student organizers said more events are scheduled to take place in the future, including a potential town hall where community members can receive more information and discuss proposed changes to gun legislation.

Angela Truong and City News Service contributed to this report.

Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.