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An estimated 500,000 to one million people, largely Gen Zers and young adults, will descend on the nation’s capital on March 24 for the March For Our Lives, organized by the #NeverAgain campaign. This is the anti-gun violence campaign started by the teen survivors of the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 14 students and three faculty members on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
After witnessing the massacre of their classmates and teachers, these courageous young survivors wasted no time in confronting lawmakers, the National Rifle Association (NRA), the media, and our public consciousness. Like other teens, the Parkland students have taken tragedy and turned it into action.
We desperately need action. There is an average of nine mass shootings in the United States every ten days, where the Gun Violence Archive defines “mass shootings” as those in which four or more people are killed, not counting the shooter. Nine days out of ten in this country, there is a mass shooting. It’s a shocking reality and one that is unique to the United States. Ours is the only nation that tolerates this level of gun violence by refusing to pass even common sense gun laws, such as raising the age of gun purchase to 21 (the age at which a person can legally purchase a lottery ticket), requiring waiting periods before a gun purchase, banning bump stocks, or banning weapons of war such as AR-15s.
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