Holding signs advocating for an end to gun violence, the University of Florida’s Students Demand Action chapter combined with the Alachua County chapter of Moms Demand Action on campus Friday for a national “Walkout for Safer Schools.”

It was a personal connection that brought out Victoria Stevenson, a UF grad student who is not currently a member of the student club. Stevenson was a fourth grader in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 when another school in her hometown, Sandy Hook Elementary, became the site of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

“Gun control and gun violence issues are pretty close to my heart,” Stevenson said. “Even though we’re so used to seeing it on our phones every day, it’s still very real and could happen to anyone. Just continuing to talk about it, reaching out to policymakers and talking within your local community… you have to start somewhere.”

Deshna Somi, the student chapter’s treasurer, said she regularly hears from students while tabling at campus events about similar connections to one mass shooting incident or another.

“Just a couple of days ago, we had someone who transferred from FSU to UF simply because of that shooting event that happened last year,” she said. “You don’t really get to see the impacts directly, but … there’s so many people that have that tied history. It’s really important to work on spreading the message and doing what we do.”

Their message, according to the national Students Demand Action organization, includes advocating for common-sense gun safety laws, supporting gun sense candidates, educating their peers and communities on gun safety issues and solutions, registering new voters, and ultimately ending gun violence. The organization was created in 2016 and quickly spread nationwide in 2018 after the Parkland High School shooting.

Somi and the other UF student organizers said their chapter started last year, and much of their efforts are also concentrated on growing the group and its collective voice.

Susan Cone, a local Moms Demand Action volunteer, said her group attended the walkout to support the students and also to make connections and unite their efforts in the broader community. Cone leads a campaign called Be SMART, which advocates for secure firearm storage.

“Seventy-five percent of school shooters get their guns from their homes or from close relatives,” Cone said. “Locking up your gun goes a long way to preventing these things from happening.”

Among the groups’ joint plans, Cone said she hoped some members of the student group will join her group’s annual advocacy day in Tallahassee, as well as other local events.

“These kids shouldn’t have to be worrying about this,” Cone said. “I took my first grader grandchild to school, and the first thing I notice is, ‘Oh! He’s in a classroom with a whole bunch of windows.’ We shouldn’t have to think that way.”