Last Saturday on the 24th one of the largest protest movements in history took place across our nation. The March For Our Lives protests took place all across our nation with the most prominent march occurring right in downtown D.C. The movement started by the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting in Parkland Florida has in just six weeks become a nation wide movement towards gun reform. Students and people everywhere have started to utilize their first amendment rights more and more to protests and voice their concerns to what they feel is a government who has not satisfied there demands.  

It was on February 14, 2018 that 17 students were injured and another 17 killed. Perpetrated by a former student of the school who utilized an AR-15 style rifle to commit this atrocity. The shooting took less than 10 minutes. Almost immediately after the shooting a new movement was born. The survivors of the school mobilized and started what is now known nationally as the Never Again movement which put on the national March for Our Lives. Protesting the availability and legality of assault style weapons and the threat they pose to students and innocents.

The March for Our Lives has played out to be one of the great successes of the Never Again movement so far. With attendance in just Washington DC ranging from around 200,000 protesters to 800,00 depending on which accounts you go by. By either estimate the march was one of the more prominent marches to grace the nation. The protest in DC took place in a partitioned off section of the district in front of the Capitol and extending as far as the National Archives. A whole host of people spoke to the protesters including everyone from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney to students and survivors of the MSD High such as David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez. Challenging lawmakers, NRA officials, and any inactive person in a position of power who did not stand to take assault weapons off our streets.

The March for Our Lives brought lots of attention to a national issue. Not only did it grab younger prospective voters attention but also reinvigorated an old fight about gun control. With midterm elections coming up in November people have a huge opportunity to define their government and who will take a part in it. For those of you who are or will be 18 by November 6 be sure to be signed up and registered to vote in this next election as even if you don’t support the idea of stricter gun control it is imperative that you take part in our next chance of democratic action because if you don’t our system of government doesn’t work.