11-year-old Montrealer, inspired by Florida shooting survivors, plans gun-control march of her own

An 11-year-old elementary school student from Westmount is joining the youth movement pushing for stricter gun-control laws in the wake of yet another school shooting south of the border.

Seventeen people died Feb. 14. during a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. Since then, the teenage survivors having been front and centre in the fractious gun-control debate in the U.S.,demanding authorities do a better job of curtailing the availability of assault rifles.

Lexington Vickery is a Grade 6 student at Montreal'sRoslyn Elementary. She said she felt for the people she saw on the newswho lost friends and family in the shooting.

But she was also impressed by the teenagers who have made it their mission to bring about change. She figured if they can do it, so can she.

"They also said that 17-year-olds can't organize a march because they're just kids, and I'm 11 and I said, 'Hey, I can probably organize a march, so I should just do this,'" she said on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

Vickery is organizing The March To Save Our Lives, scheduled for Saturday, March 24,inWestmount.The event will coincide with marches planned in the U.S. So far, eight people have indicated they will attend, including her mother.

The young student said she wants people inFlorida to see Montrealersat her event and know that they have support here too.

Phil Lord, U.S.-bornlaw student at McGill,is also planning a march in Montreal the same day.

He says it is easy to get cynical after so many mass shootings in United States, but he hopes this timethings will change, especially since there seems to be a concerted effort to keep the issue in the news for as long as needed.

"The fact that the students this time around really took the lead helpedframe this as more of a generational issue than a partisan issue,"Lord said.

"Even if it doesn't does get fixed fully this time around, I don't think it's a tide that can be stopped."