A group of college students came together outside the Massachusetts State House Friday to fight gun violence.
Massachusetts college students took part in a rally against gun violence Friday in Boston.
Even though an incident last week turned out to be a false alarm, for Framingham High School students, nothing seemed fake about it.
"It was extremely terrifying. It was so scary, and I frankly think no one should experience that kind of terror," said Framingham High School student Tessa McGarry.
Last Friday, an active shooter alarm at the school sent students running, others barricading themselves in their classrooms.
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The alarm was triggered by a battery issue, but for McGarry, all of it was a call to action.
"It really motivated me to come out today and do some protesting, because this is not an issue that we should be dealing with," she said.
McGarry joined several dozen students from Boston-area colleges Friday for a protest outside the Massachusetts State House. The group is calling for stricter gun laws and more money for mental health services.
"It definitely shook me," Abby Mente said. "It has been a hard few weeks."
The Boston University sophomore grew up outside Detroit, and she knew two of the three people killed earlier this month during shootings on the Michigan State University campus.
Mente graduated high school with one victim and worked with another.
"It has been tough being far away, but I am glad that I can do something here," she said.
More on the shootings at Michigan State University
Allison Weiner agrees.
"It was one of the worst things I ever felt," she said.
The Brandeis University sophomore is also from the Detroit area and spent the night of the Michigan State shootings frantically trying to find her friends on campus.
"At the end of the day, my closest friends in life would not be going through what they are going through had that man not had a gun," Weiner said. "It feels like it can happen absolutely anywhere, and I think that is so scary for all of us."
