HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The Latest on student gun protests in Montana and Wyoming (all times local):
2 p.m.
Dueling rallies are being held in Montana’s capital city by gun-control and gun-rights advocates.
At Helena’s gun-control rally, two teen sisters who helped organize the protest said they felt hope for the first time after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivors advocated for change.
Seventeen-year old Mariah Thomas said that finally somebody was doing something about gun violence - and it was students her own age.
Outside the Capitol, a smaller crowd of gun-rights advocates swore that no outsiders would dictate gun control in Montana.
One speaker, Montana State University student Joey Chester, drew boos when he mentioned the other protest happening across town.
He said that if something went wrong there, the first people to show up would be people with guns.
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10:25 a.m.
Students and gun-control advocates in Montana and Wyoming are rallying in support of marches nationwide called for by students who survived February’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
In Helena, a counter-protest by gun-rights advocates is planned at the Montana Capitol Saturday at the same time as the March for Our Lives rally in a park across town.
March for Our Lives rallies are planned in hundreds of locations in addition to the main march in Washington, D.C.
In Montana, rallies are planned in Helena, Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and Great Falls.
In Wyoming, protesters plan to gather in Laramie, Jackson, Pinedale and Sheridan.
The Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland left 17 people dead and galvanized many survivors to advocate for stricter gun regulations.
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