Locals protest gun violence

CLOVIS — They walked from Hilltop Plaza to the Curry County Courthouse on Saturday, holding signs calling for an end to gun violence.

The "March for Our Lives" event attracted about five dozen people. It was one of hundreds of demonstrations that took place across the country on Saturday, supporting a similar gathering held in Washington, D.C., organized by survivors of the Feb. 14 school shooting at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Standing just across the street from Clovis-Carver Public Library, which itself was the site of a shooting in August that killed two and injured four, several speakers shared a common message with regards to gun violence: enough is enough.

"Schools should be a place where kids are safe and this event is to raise awareness of that," organizer Melanie Patrick told the crowd outside the courthouse. "And they need to be safe in our communities and they need to be safe in our libraries; they need to be safe in the grocery store and this event is demanding that measures be put in place to protect our kids and families."

Shyanne Sansom, a teacher at Clovis High, told the crowd about the fear she and her students experienced following the library shooting.

Sansom said she purposely moved her desk so it can no longer be seen through a window and still formulates an exit strategy in her head as she walks through the school's halls, just in case something were to happen.

"I am sick and tired of going to school and feeling afraid and feeling like my students who I love and I am there to protect and teach have to be afraid," Sansom said. "We are tired of being afraid and we have had enough."

Two elected officials, Curry County Commissioner Angelina Baca and Clovis City Commissioner Fidel Madrid, were among the speakers who addressed the crowd outside the courthouse.

"I'm not here representing the county today, I'm representing myself," Baca said. "My child grew up across the street (at the library), as many of your children did, and the atrocity that took place there should never have happened."

"I want to thank each of you for having the courage to come up here and walking," Madrid said, while calling on those in attendance to extend their activism to the voting booth.

"Be sure to go out and vote; that's the most important thing. Our vote counts. A lot of people don't think so, but it does."

Erica Antonetti, a veteran and military spouse, said better purchasing and ownership laws are needed to ensure children can be safe in schools.

"I've been trained by the best military in the world to learn how to load, clean and shoot my weapon as well as hand guns and automatic rifles, but I realize that automatic hand guns belong in certain hands," Antonetti said.

Patrick, a fellow military spouse, also emphasized that she too is not anti-gun.

"This was not an anti-gun march," Patrick said. "We are Second Amendment supporters. I grew up in the South hunting. That's not what it's about and it's not a political issue. This is a life issue, an issue of saving lives."

Those in attendance were happy to see a large group of people come out to support the cause of ending gun violence.

"I was really glad that Clovis joined in," Carol Singletary said. "I wasn't sure if anyone would here. As my sign says, doing nothing is a great way of changing nothing."