Bay Area students join 'Stand for the Second,' a pro-gun walkout

SAN RAMON, Calif. - Students across the country, and at several Bay Area schools, will walked out of class on Wednesday over guns. But this time, it’s not to protest gun violence and argue for stricter legislation: The marches were to show their support for their constitutional right to bear arms.

Students from Cal High in San Ramon, Montgomery High in Santa Rosa, College Park High in Martinez and Downtown College Prep Alum Rock in San Jose all said they would be participating in the national event, dubbed “Stand for the Second.”

Their walkout comes in response to the huge marches and rallies last month -- when students walked out of their classes calling for action to deal with gun violence following the mass shooting a high school in Parkland, Florida.

There have been pro-gun rallies across the nation as well, typically organized by adults. For example, in mid-April a group called the National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans organized rallies outside 45 statehouses across the country.

But “Stand for the Second was organized by 18-year-old Will Riley, a student from Carlsbad, New Mexico, who wanted to do something to counter the anti-gun sentiment in the country. He posted a video on Twitter urging students to speak out on the other side of the debate.

“We just want to have the same platform that students on the other side were given,” Riley told the Santa Fe New Mexican “Really, what I want to do is just to educate people about their constitutional rights that they may not know about.”