Shame on You! Students Organize National March for Gun Control
A group of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, where an former student killed 17 people with an assault rifle last week, are planning a gun control march in Washington, D.C. on March 24. The targets: the National Rifle Association and any politician that takes money from them.
The rally is gaining momentum across the country, from middle schools to college campuses.
President Trump stated last year that he would “never” take away citizens’ right to bear arms, and has also criticized the FBI for not acting on tip-offs about suspicious behavior of the shooter.
At a highly emotional rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. this weekend, student organizers have stated that they are “losing [their] lives while the adults are playing around” and hope to use the march as a way to ensure that gun violence victims and their families “become a priority” to the government.
“Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear,” the March For Our Lives website says. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.”
There is also a national student walkout being planned by Women’s March organizers, who are encouraging students and to walk out of schools on March 14 to protest gun violence.
Enough is enough!
Women's March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes at 10am on March 14, 2018. Join us in saying #ENOUGH!https://t.co/8ZE8uthRlZ pic.twitter.com/45yCZl4zDm
— Women's March (@womensmarch) February 16, 2018
The event being organized by EMPOWER, the Woman’s March youth branch, and is planned to mark 30 days since the shooting in Parkland. It’s scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in every time zone and last for 17 minutes — one for each victim of the massacre.
At a gathering on Sunday, Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Cameron Kasky said, “You are going to be seeing students in every single major city marching and we have our lives on the line here, and at the end of the day, that is going to be what’s bringing us to victory and to making some sort of right out of this tragedy. This is about us begging for our lives.”
and Natalia Kolenko contributed to this report.
