JANESVILLE, WI - Marching for gun reform -- dozens of students ended a 50-mile trek across county lines with a rally calling for change at Traxler Park in Janesville.
“We marched 50 miles," Violet Kilmurray said. "Our bodies all hurt, but we did it."
Forty students from cities all across the state started their long journey Sunday walking from Madison to Janesville—the hometown of House Speaker Paul Ryan. The students said their goal is to continue the conversation of gun reform and demand action from the house speaker specifically.
“It shows how passionate we are about this issue," Brendan Fardella said. "When you march 50 miles I think you can probably see wow those kids are hurting, but they’re still going."
Brandan Fardella, a high school student from Shorewood, is just one of the dozens of students who marched the 50 miles from Madison to Janesville.
“Forty of us came together and we raised our voice and people heard us around the country," Fardella said.
Fardella is also one of the creators of the "50 Miles More Movement," a movement he said was inspired by civil rights leaders of the 60s. And although decades later the motivation to march may be different, Jada Young from Milwaukee said the message is just as mighty and it also addresses gun violence in urban communities.
“I wanted change to be made about gun reform," Young said. "And the fact that black children and black people have been dying for years for gun violence."
The students are now challenging people across the country to join in the "50 Miles More Movement" and to continue the conversation.
