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March for Our Lives

Wisconsin students are marching 50 miles to Paul Ryan's hometown for action on gun laws

Lainey Seyler and Alec Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

About 50 Wisconsin students started walking Sunday from Madison to Janesville, the hometown of House Speaker Paul Ryan, to raise awareness about school safety and push for action on gun laws.

The journey is 50 miles and will take four days. Along the way, students are sleeping in high school gyms and other predetermined locations. 

"As the Speaker of the House, (Ryan) has a special kind of power to be able to stop that gun legislation from even being talked about on the House floor, and he has tons and tons of influence that he can use to have people write bills and have people not write bills and how people vote and things like that," student  Brendan Fardella told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Him being from our state, we think we have a unique opportunity to be able to march those 50 miles and send a message to him."

Katie Eder of Shorewood High School speaks during a March For Our Lives rally in Wisconsin. She's among the students participating in the 50-mile march.

The group walking in the 50 Miles More march says it is inspired by the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march, a multi-day, 54-mile march led by Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights era.

The group wants to keep attention on the issue of school safety and gun reform after the March For Our Lives marches across the nation on Saturday. The march will conclude Wednesday with a rally in Traxler Park in Janesville. 

The cause may be serious, but the students are still having fun, especially with their social media posts. 

The group is also drawing awareness to its cause by tweeting about victims of gun violence every mile.

Ryan didn't weigh in on Twitter, but Jordan Dunn, spokesman for the speaker, said, "The congressman respects those expressing their views. The House recently enacted new laws to keep children safe without infringing on constitutional rights.”

Randy Bryce, a Democrat who is running against Ryan, tweeted along with the #50more. 

Follow Lainey Seyler and Alec Johnson on Twitter: @lainey_seyler and @AlecJohnson12

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