INDIANAPOLIS — Many Hoosiers are pressing for changes to gun laws and gun violence, starting at the local level.
A group of people took their message about the impact gun violence is having on families here in Indiana to state lawmakers.
The group used flowers to make a difference.
They laid daisies to symbolize a child that has been lost due to gun violence.
Amy Boggess, a mother and former teacher, helped organize the event.
"It's [gun violence] scary, it's terrifying, and we can do better," Boggess said. "As a mother and a teacher you're angry because you want to do so much, but you feel like you can't."
The daisy symbolizes purity and innocence.
"No parent, no aunt, uncle, grandparent, should have to be scared to send their child to school," Andrea Fjelde, who helped organize the event said.
Boggess's husband, Luke Boggess has been an educator for 10 years, said gun violence is an added stress in the classroom for his students.
"They've got the weight of the world on their shoulders coming to school, it's literally risking their lives coming to school," Boggess said. "You have to be strong and help them feel good, but at the same time, you can't say, 'Hey it's going to be okay.' Because nothing is happening at the statehouse, nothing is happening nationally."
The group laid 2,000 flowers to represent the number of children lost every year to gun violence.
They are hoping the magnitude will spark a conversation of change when it comes to gun laws in Indiana.
"I just think at this point where we are at and the severity of gun violence, it can happen to anyone and anywhere. We should be scared, it's terrifying that it's that awful," Boggess said.
Fjelde said it's time to step up to help kids.
"Now is the time, our youth needs us on so many levels," Fjelde said.
Senator J.D. Ford acknowledged the group's efforts.
"Here you have ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things," Ford said. "Political interest trumped children's lives, this can not happen this time. This can not happen, and so we must do something and I want to be a part of that conversation. I want to be a part of that solution."
State Senator Fady Qaddoura also noticed the group's efforts and said politics need to be put aside and kids should come first.
"We have a severe problem. It's a crisis. I don't know what kind of human a person can be when they see children being killed to the point that their bodies are not even recognized and sit idle and not speak up," Qaddoura said. "We need to act we can't wait anymore, we can't lose more in our communities. Whether it's gun violence in our streets or massacres in our schools."
According to the group, they aren't just hoping to be noticed, they're hoping to enact change.
They are calling for, "common-sense gun laws, background checks, and banning of assault rifles for anyone under the age of 18."
"We just want some basic laws. I am all for guns, but we have to have some type of background," Boggess said.
Boggess said she feels like gun violence can impact anyone.
"I feel like it could be me I feel like it could be my child, it could be my neighbor's children, it could be our schools here locally," Boggess said.
