By Lindsay Peyton

Aidan Silber was in first grade when Ian Lee Stawicki walked into Café Racer in the University District and opened fire. The shooting spree resulted in the death of five individuals, the eventual suicide of the shooter and several nearby schools going into lockdown.

The shooter was cornered by police three blocks away from Silber’s home, right on the very street where he lived with his family. At the time, Silber was on the school bus heading back, minutes away from the violence.

“If my school bus was five minutes late, we would have crossed paths,” Silber said.

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary happened six months later. “My school didn’t say much, but my mom was crying and really worried,” Silber said. “I didn’t quite understand what was going on, but I learned pretty quickly.”

The two incidents, which happened so close together, made a strong impression on Silber at a young age.

Now, he’s 12 years old and an activist against gun violence. He’s been to Olympia to ask for more regulations at the state capitol. Recently, he went to the office of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense to advocate for change.

And last week, he joined students across the country who walked out of their schools, demanding new gun laws.

In fact, Silber is the one who signed up his campus for the protest. He attends seventh grade at David T. Denny International Middle School.

After hearing Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez’s speech, Silber went to work organizing at Denny. He reached out to local politicians and media to attend the event.

“Although it is a student led walkout, having local politicians would make a huge impact towards ending gun violence in our schools, in our country, and in the world,” he wrote, asking them to stop by the campus at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14.

“Before the Florida shooting, there wasn’t much at my school about gun violence, and I only have a few friends who are political,” Silber said. “After Florida, at least half of my school went on the walk out.”

He said that the national student protest has given him hope for progress on an issue that has worried him for most of his life.

“Before Florida, I felt like very little was going to get done,” he said.

Then, he saw the students from Parkland pushing for change. “The students were more than sad,” he said. “They were angry. They fought, and they got stuff done.”

Silber was ready to follow their lead. “He composed the letters himself, and it was all his own initiative,” Silber’s mother Catherine Berglund said.

She too has been worried about gun violence in the U.S. since a trip to Seattle from her native Canada in 1996. “This has seemed like a hopeless cause for all the years that I’ve been involved,” she said.

Now, Berglund feels like the gun law movement is gaining momentum, and she’s proud that her son is taking on the cause. “When I read what he wrote, I was blown away,” she said. “It was very persuasive.”

Silber said that city council member Lisa Herbold attended Denny’s walkout, along with most of his classmates. “It was really, really inspiring,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like it. It was well-planned.”

He wants politicians to know that campaign money from the National Rifle Association shouldn’t affect legislation.

“You can’t put a price on lives,” he said. “Tragedies happen, but we can do something about them. The fact that there are people actively trying to stop progress just makes it worse.”

Silber said gun laws passed in Japan have made a positive impact. “We can make laws that immediately stop this,” he said. “A lot of other countries have.”

He wants lawmakers to consider how others are impacted by gun laws. “Politicians have bodyguards; they’re not at risk,” he said. “People like students and minorities are the most at risk and have the least amount of power.”

Silber does not oppose gun ownership or hunting. “We’re not asking to ban guns outright,” he said. “We’re just asking for reasonable regulations.”

Silber said his school has been on lockdown in the past after students were found with weapons. “The amount of shootings at schools are low; nonetheless, it’s scary,” he said. “It’s really hard to feel safe.”

Silber hopes to see the elimination of assault weapons, like the AR-15 that was used in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the adoption of new gun laws.

“If change doesn’t happen, the fight shouldn’t stop,” he said. “If you do nothing, nothing will happen. People in power will only listen to you if you put actions with your words. For us, it’s a matter of life and death.”