{"id":21807,"date":"2018-03-13T08:46:39","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T14:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=21807"},"modified":"2018-03-13T08:46:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T14:46:39","slug":"missoula-city-councils-letter-hails-students-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2018\/03\/missoula-city-councils-letter-hails-students-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"Missoula City Council’s letter hails students’ activism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kids\"<\/a>

Martin Kidston\/Missoula Current<\/p>

Missoula high-school students were inspired by the activism of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to stage a Feb. 21 walkout. Another protest is planned for Wednesday.<\/p><\/div>\n

Missoula City Council members signed their names to a letter Monday night beseeching students at Florida\u2019s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to continue their advocacy for solutions to gun violence in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are filling a vacuum in leadership,\u201d said the letter, written by Ward 3 Councilwoman Gwen Jones. \u201cYour intelligence and articulate communication are gifts to be used at this time in our history. Please do not let this opportunity pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cdynamic in America is shifting\u201d because of your activism, the letter said.<\/p>\n

Students at the school have captivated the nation\u2019s attention after a lone shooter killed 17 of their classmates, teachers and coaches on Feb. 14.<\/p>\n

In their grief, students have spoken out for tighter regulations on the sale of guns, particularly assault weapons, as well as other restrictions. They\u2019ve appeared at national town hall meetings, before the Florida Legislature, and at rallies and marches.<\/p>\n

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This Wednesday, they\u2019ll lead a national walkout of students calling for congressional action \u2014 not unlike the walkout that occurred in Missoula and across the country on Feb. 21.<\/p>\n

While beginning and ending the letter by expressing their condolences for the many lives lost, Missoula City Council members hailed the Parkland, Florida, students for the strength and courage they summoned to lead a national movement so soon after the death of their friends and loved ones.<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>\u201cWe support your activism, your passion and your organization to move our legislators to create policy that will keep our citizens safe from such horrific acts of gun violence,\u201d the letter read. \u201cYour voices have brought a fresh tone to the discussion, and we believe your activism could truly change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council members encouraged the students to \u201cmake short-term plans to push this issue,\u201d but also long-term plans to \u201cengage young people in our country.\u201d A number of the Parkland students have said they plan to take their advocacy to the ballot box, encouraging young people to vote for candidates who will stand up to the National Rifle Association; a few have said they\u2019ll run for office themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a responsibility we hope you embrace, both to honor yourselves as survivors and more importantly your classmates that were lost,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

Promising their support, Missoula\u2019s elected leaders told the students they \u201chope that you have the strength, courage, determination and perseverance to continue your leadership in America on gun safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo effect change will take work and engagement for years to come. America\u2019s youth and adults are listening to you. Use your forum. This is an issue that needs some nudging to tip the scales and you could be that catalyst.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sense is that the dynamic in America is shifting \u2014 because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

All but two of Missoula\u2019s 12 City Council members signed the letter before or after Monday night\u2019s meeting. Ward 6 Councilwoman Julie Merritt was absent. Ward 4 Councilman Jesse Ramos did not sign, he said, because he has a personal policy against signing letters written by someone other than himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like my communications to be in my own words,\u201d Ramos said.<\/p>\n

Merritt has indicated that she will sign the letter before it is mailed.<\/p>\n

Sherry Devlin is a longtime Missoula journalist who writes\u00a0occasional stories for\u00a0Missoula Current<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0where this story originally appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missoula City Council members signed their names to a letter Monday night beseeching students at Florida\u2019s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to continue their advocacy for solutions to gun violence in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":21808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5013,6818],"class_list":["post-21807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-missoula-city-council","tag-school-shootings","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21809,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807\/revisions\/21809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}