Born out of multiple school shootings, March For Our Lives is both a movement and organization of young people with the ultimate goal "to protect America’s kids."
March For Our Lives' new six-point plan includes the following:
1) Changing the standards for gun ownership — March-ers want a national gun registry, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, policies to "disarm gun owners who pose a risk to themselves or others," and a national gun buy-back program.
2) Cut the rate of gun deaths in half within ten years — The organization wants gun violence to be declared a national emergency with the public health goal of reducing gun deaths by 50 per cent within ten years.
3) Hold the gun industry responsible for its behaviour — Some of these related suggestions include investigating the National Rifle Association (NRA), the repeal of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law that protects gun makers from liability when people commit crimes using their products, and a reexamination of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution's right for an individual to keep and bear arms.
4) Create a National Director of Gun Violence Prevention — This position would report to the president of the United States and would have ability to empower law enforcement agencies to pursue gun violence reduction strategies.
5) Utilize community-based solutions to reduce gun violence — community-based urban violence reduction programs, suicide prevention programs, domestic violence prevention programs, mental and behavioral health service programs, and programs to address police violence in our communities.
6) "Empower the next generation" — This would involve automatically registering eligible voters and mail voter registration cards to all Americans when they turn 18 as well as creating a “Safety Corps,” a Peace Corps for gun violence prevention.
The March For Our Lives was originally a demonstration event held March 24, 2018 spearheaded by student organizers connected to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Four days after the shooting at their school, emerging student activists including Cameron Kasky, Emma González and David Hogg announced their intention to hold the anti-gun march. Soon after, celebrity endorsements from the likes of George and Amal Clooney and Oprah Winfrey dramatically raised the event's profile, which has since cascaded into an extensive series of events and actions around the world.
One key area where March For Our Lives feel there needs to be action are in creating a higher standard for gun ownership. The organization has suggested ideas like requiring a multi-set, law enforcement agency-overseen registration process for gun owners, annual licensing fees and raising the minimum gun ownership age to 21. Other proposed ideas include limiting a person's ability to only purchasing one gun per month, the prohibition of online gun sales, improved safe gun storage requirements and the legal requirement to report lost or stolen guns to law enforcement officials.
Watch a March For Our Lives video
Air Jordan 1