Empty school desks on Minnesota Capitol grounds signify children lost to gun violence

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — They were preparing for three days of presence and legislative testimony as they seek gun safety laws. The desks represented more than 200 Minnesota children lost to gun violence since 2021, the group said.

Jackie Flavin — the mother of Harper Moyski, a 10-year-old student who died in an Aug. 27 shooting during an all-school Mass at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis — helped spearhead the lobbying effort through an organization of parents called Annunciation Light Alliance.

The shooting also took the life of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and wounded more than a dozen other students and three adults. In their honor, Flavin set up two desks inside the Capitol building: one for her daughter and one for Fletcher, with their backpacks and school-related things. She included her daughter’s photo, a soccer ball, slip-on shoes, papers and a pencil cup.

Flavin’s husband, Mike Moyski, also helped set up the desks in 20-degree weather on the snow-filled Capitol grounds. The desks were expected to be in place through Feb. 26.

“My hope is that all this brings some meaning into the big decisions that are being made as the (legislative) session takes shape Feb. 17 through May,” Moyski told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “We hope that as legislators — Democrat, Republican, whatever it might be — as they walk in and enter the session every morning, they see … the impact” gun violence “has on communities and families and think about what they’re doing.”

“And just one other thing,” Moyski said. “It’s not just for the legislators to see this and find some meaning. I think it’s also for all of our kids who have been through something at a young age they should never have (had) to. To see that somebody’s out here doing something about it and that there can be some light amongst all the darkness.”

In addition to testimony, Annunciation students in grades six through eight participated in a sing-along in the Capitol rotunda Feb. 24. Another sing-along was planned for Feb. 26 with Annunciation students in grades three through five.

“We gather in song and shared humanity to bring care and presence into the space where public decisions are made,” said a flyer advertising what Annunciation Light Alliance billed as “Minnesota Sing Together” community gatherings.

Kristen Neville and her husband, Michael Burt, were among those helping set up the desks.

Parents of five children at Annunciation, they have been involved with Annunciation Light Alliance since the effort began taking shape in the weeks after the shooting as parents concerned about gun violence contacted one another. Ideas began to solidify in September, Neville said.

“We established what our overall structure was, established a leadership team, task forces. And then we ended up determining our mission, our vision, and our values, and ultimately landed on a name — Annunciation Light Alliance,” Neville said.

The alliance has about 160 members, and its leadership team of about 20 people meets once a week, including co-chairs Neville and Brittany Haeg, Neville said. Quarterly meetings draw about 80 people in person and online, she said. People can learn more at the group’s website at annunciationlight.org.

Lisa Shepherd, communications director for the alliance, said its members hope to “get all the right people at the right table. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe in, just come up with the right solution to keep our kids safe at the end of the day.”

On Feb. 24, Gov. Tim Walz, who urged a special session to address gun violence shortly after the shooting at Annunciation, announced what he called a comprehensive gun violence prevention package.

The proposals included banning military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines; requiring safe storage and reporting of lost or stolen firearms; not allowing Minnesotans to possess guns without serial numbers; implementing a firearm insurance requirement; establishing a firearm and ammunition tax; and expanding early intervention resources, including school resources, to prevent gun violence.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference — the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops — has suggested a three-tiered approach to gun violence in this legislative session.

Its proposals include banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanding safe schools funding to at least $100 per student in state aid while extending eligibility to nonpublic, charter and tribal schools.

The Catholic conference also suggests increasing state aid and school-board approved levy authority to ensure school districts have sustainable resources to meet safety needs; and stopping the harms of addictive social media by requiring parental consent for children under 16 years old to join social media platforms. If consent is given, the legislation would prohibit targeted advertising and addictive features and require privacy settings for children that help parents monitor and limit use.

During a Feb. 24 news conference to announce Walz’s gun violence prevention package, Annunciation Catholic School eighth-grader Lydia Kaiser spoke to those assembled, describing being in church for “the first school Mass of the year when a gunman fired 116 rounds of bullets through the stained-glass windows.”

“Two students were shot and killed. Two students survived gunshot injuries to the head. I’m one of them,” she said. “Many more students were injured by bullets and flying glass. We all hid under the pews. The older students covered the younger students to protect them.”

Lydia was taken to the hospital “and rushed into surgery.” “The doctor moved a large piece, almost half of my skull, to let my brain swell, and to remove bone and bullet fragments from my head,” she said. “I had a second surgery three weeks later to put the piece of my skull back in my head.”

“All children have the right to live free from gun violence in schools, churches and in our communities,” Lydia said. “Elected officials have a duty to protect us from guns. No one should have to go through what we went through at Annunciation. Thank you.”

Contributing to this story was Rebecca Omastiak, the news editor at The Catholic Spirit.

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