Student promotes walkouts to support gun rights

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A high school senior in New Mexico is urging counter-protests this week in favor of the constitutional right to bear arms and says youths at more than 100 schools may join the demonstrations. Will Riley of Carlsbad said walkout-style protests are being scheduled for Wednesday to provide a platform for expression by students who support gun rights and the Second Amendment. He says the "stand for the second" protests are designed to counter many sentiments expressed March 14 during student walkouts at schools across the country to demand action on gun violence and school safety. In those protests, students left class for at least 17 minutes — one minute for each of the dead in the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.