Area high school students sing at the kick off of the #EnoughIsEnough town hall.For Portland State University students Chloe and Joshua Friedlein, gun violence on campuses isn’t some abstract issue - it’s personal. As survivors of the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting, the couple knows all too well the long-term trauma and anxiety that can come from being victims of an active campus shooter.
The Friedleins talked about their experiences Thursday evening at the #EnoughIsEnough Student Town Hall 2018 on gun control legislation held at PSU. The event attracted around 150 middle school, high school and college students as well as teachers and administrators, who questioned Oregon elected officials about their positions and work on implementing stricter gun laws in the U.S.
“America has a gun violence problem,” said Joshua Friedlein, a PSU senior majoring in history. “ A lot of times we sweep it under the rug.”
Organized by high school students, the town hall comes on the heels of the shooting in Parkland, Fla. school shooting and the nationwide March for Our Lives, which drew attention to student concerns about school shootings and gun violence. Other speakers at the event included U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer, Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle and staffers from the offices of U.S. senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici.
“If our elected officials don’t change the laws, then we’re going to change our elected officials,” said Joshua Friedlein, who believes putting pressure on legislators is the only way to affect change.
U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer speaks to the crowd.The Friedleins survived the Umpqua shooting without physical injury, but the psychological trauma they’ve suffered affects them to this day. Chloe Friedlein, a PSU junior studying in the College of the Arts, said the shooter, another Umpqua student, spent time in the theater department like her. She considered the department her second home on the Umpqua campus.
“After the shooting it felt like something was taken away from me that previously felt safe, “ she said. “The theater was a place where I could go to express myself and be myself and it was no longer a place I could trust.”
The Friedleins praise the work of area high school students who organized the gun control town hall.
“I can’t say enough good things about the courage and maturity of the high school students organizing this event,” said Joshua Friedlein. “The way that they’ve stepped up is very admirable.”
Both say the impact of shootings on the individuals involved goes well beyond what many might expect. “The effects of gun violence don’t end when the sun sets on the day when that event happens,” Joshua Friedlein said.
Chloe Friedlein praised the opportunity to create dialogue among students with differing perspectives on access to guns in the U.S. And she believes the conversation around gun violence in schools started by high school students is here to stay.
“This is not a moment, it’s a movement,” she said.