Stevenson, Buffalo Grove Students Discuss Gun Control

Students from Buffalo Grove and Stevenson high schools had the opportunity to weigh in this week on the village’s gun ordinance as part of the annual civics forum. 

Buffalo Grove officials passed an initial ordinance in July that bans assault weapons in the village, but the ordinance defines only machine guns as assault weapons. Trustees have the option of altering that definition in the future.

Students participating in the village’s civics forum, which is designed to teach teens about local government, were asked to present cases in favor and against expanding the ordinance.

Divided into two groups, one team argued for the Constitutional right to bear arms, while the team referenced the Newtown, Conn., shootings as an example of why stricter gun laws are needed.

Some of the students’ remarks are showcased in the video above. 

Participants from Stevenson High School included Alyse Deutsch, Jeremy Harris, Narmin Hasanova, Derek Lowe, Rohan Mathew, Ryan McCoy, Elan Modilevsky, Alex Rude, Lexi Schmidt, Sophia Schmidt and Joel Spiegel.

Participants from Buffalo Grove High School included Jonathan Bahi, Milan Davitkov, Diego Del Rio, Madison Fortman, Richard Gumirov, Roma Makarov, Kendall Marthaler, Kaitlin Morain, Grace Pateras, Calvin Perkins and Danielle Wright.

A video of the entire forum, which lasted just over an hour, can be viewed on the village’s website.