Student-led gun control group planning nationwide protests, march on DC

Students and youth organizers with the March for Our Lives gun control movement are planning nationwide protests following the Texas elementary school shooting, including a march on Washington, D.C., on June 11.

Organizers and activists also plan to meet with lawmakers in the Capitol from June 7 to June 10 to push for universal background checks, according to the group’s website.

“Our message and ask is simple: no longer will we be held hostage by our lawmakers and no longer will we tolerate feeling unsafe in our communities,” the group wrote on the website.

“Regardless of what party you stand for, if you do not support lifesaving measures like universal background checks, we will pledge to vote against you this fall and in future elections. “

March for Our Lives has several other protests planned around the country from San Francisco, Calif., to Greenville, S.C. There will also be a protest in front of the convention center where the National Rifle Association (NRA) is hosting a conference in Houston, Texas later this week, about 300 miles from the scene of the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

March For Our Lives is a youth-led movement advocating for an end to what they say is an “epidemic of gun violence,” which was formed in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in 2018.

After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, March For Our Lives organized one of the largest protests against gun violence ever, mobilizing millions of people across the nation. The group has continued to expand its message and voter outreach efforts in elections.

Officials say the 18-year-old suspect in the Texas shooting on Tuesday entered Robb Elementary School and killed 19 children and two adults, spurring renewed cries for gun control as Americans grapples with yet another tragedy.

President Biden on Wednesday said the “Second Amendment is not absolute” as he pushed for more gun control in the wake of the shooting.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is telling colleagues that they will have the opportunity to vote on amendments to curb gun-related violence if Republicans agree to a debate on a domestic terrorism bill, which passed the House on a party-line vote.  

March for Our Lives proposes a multi-pronged approach to end gun violence: more proactively addressing poverty and mental health, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and holding the gun industry and lobbyists more accountable.