Understanding Our Youth:
A Breakdown of the upcoming March For Our Lives

#NeverAgain. This is the motto of our youth. Thousands of this countries next generation of voters, along with support from their adult counterparts have organized a protest advocating for sensible gun control. The March For Our Lives is scheduled this Saturday, March 24. Thousands of supporters and students from across the country will be holding a rally in Washington, DC, joined by countless others marching throughout the country.

Set to begin at 12:00 noon Eastern, this is not the first time in recent weeks that we have seen our youth step up to have their voices heard. Since the tragedy that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school on February 14, this year, we have seen a new era of teenage activism. Just last week, we saw more than a million students leave their classrooms and schools as they participated in perhaps the largest school walkout in this nation’s history. The National School Walkout was a way to honor the lives of the 17 victims who were fatally shot on Valentine’s Day, and also to demand that our elected officials hear the people and pass new legislation on gun control immediately.

Next month, on April 20, there is another walkout planned as well, which goes to show just how much momentum this grassroots movement among our students truly has. April 20th is also the 19th Anniversary of the terrible Columbine High School Massacre where 13 people lost their lives in addition to the two shooters.

Lane Murdock, who initiated the petition for the April 20 walkout, recently stated in an interview with Vox that “There is a lot more to come.” She states that the walkouts and marches are the foundation of this movement that is calling for changes to our nation’s gun laws. No matter the metaphor, it is clear that these future voters are not intending to back down. Murdock was also quoted saying “It’s going to be hard — but it’s realistic enough that I know we can get it done.”

What can we expect?

First on the calendar is this coming Saturday, March 24, 2018. Thanks to some great work and support from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun law reform advocacy group, the survivors from Parkland, Florida, have organized the March for Our Lives in our Nation’s Capital. The route for this march will follow Pennsylvania Avenue, and will start at Noon Eastern Time. It has been projected that more than 500,000 supporters will participate in the March for Our Lives in DC. It is unclear how many other participants throughout the country and the world will join in solidarity, but it is already confirmed over 800 organized marches will take place in places like Hong Kong, Maui, and even Lincoln, Nebraska.

In response to these walkouts, the March For Our Lives website posted a statement:

“On the 24th we’ll take another major action together. We will keep up the pressure. Then we will take more action. This fall we will go and vote like no generation has in history. It is only when we show the collective strength of our voices, in the streets and at the voting booth, will they start to listen.”

Next month, Lane Murdock with the assistance of Indivisible, a progressive organizing group that just started in 2016, will be launch the next stage of this movement with the first walkout on April 20. These demonstrations and this movement have given America’s youth the voice they so desperately need our lawmakers to hear. “April 20 isn’t the end of this,” Murdock said.

“April 20 is the launch. We want to make sure we take all this momentum, power, and interest and turn it into concrete, actual change.”

With their focus on small actions, public pressure is starting to bend in their favor. Perhaps their biggest victory to date is not letting the rest of us forget that students die far too often in America. Another victory, definitely much more than a small action, was the passing of the first gun restrictions in Florida in more than 20 years. This new law requires purchasers of a firearm to be at least 21 years of age and requires a three-day waiting period. This law also creates a new system which law enforcement can petition to have guns removed from someone who has been deems as unfit or as a threat to the safety of others. Part of the bill also allocates millions of dollars for mental heal programs and school safety throughout the state. Although controversial, there is also a voluntary program to arm some school employees included in the new law.

We have also seen several other states make new changes in their local gun laws, including banning bump stocks and other types of accessories that have been used in multiple mass shootings in our country. Our President, Donald Trump, has also called to ban bump stocks and even introduced a school safety plan. The administrations steps also include “risk protection orders” which will allow weapons to be confiscated from those who may be a threat. President Trump is also in favor of arming teachers, even though we have seen a large volume of educators speak out against this.

Although the conversation has been more active in recent weeks following the terrible shooting in Parkland, one senior in Richmond said that “This is literally a matter of life and death.”