‘March for our Lives’ demonstration draws a record-breaking crowd

On Saturday, March 24, over 200 ETSU students and local community members rallied together in a nationwide protest demanding gun legislation reform in spite of rain and near-freezing temperatures.

“The crowd featured people from all ages and walks of life, many of whom held signs reading “Protect us, not the NRA”, “Protect Me, not Guns” and “#NeverAgain”, among others. “We can not allow one more child to be shot at school”.

Northwestern Stands with Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a Facebook page that has more than 500 likes, organized the walkout on March 14. “My students are very concerned”.

Across the United States, participation at the March for Our Lives marches are estimated to have been between 1.2 million and 2 million people, making it one of the largest protests in U.S. history. Khepra spoke at the rally and urged students to wear orange in memory of those lost to gun violence and to register to vote in order to help enact political change. “We are the margin of error in close elections”, he says. We’re more educated about things than [adults] think we are.

The killings re-energized the movement for gun control, creating activists out of young student survivors who have harnessed the power of social media to bring global attention to their cause, The Hill reported.

The traumatizing effect of gun violence on children of color was a central theme at Philadelphia’s March for Our Lives. “Every time that Congress fails to pass meaningful gun safety legislation, we are failing the American people”.

Samantha Inscore, junior in education at Emporia State, was one of the main organizers of the event in Topeka.

Similarly, former CMS math and history teacher John Best owns guns but marched in support of keeping guns out of schools. The difference, she said, is “the suburban students want to come home from school, and the inner city kids actually want to make it to school”.

“The March for Our Lives was very emotional for me and very exciting”, Andrus said. End gun violence!” and “Hey! “I’m saying they aren’t the ones being treated like nothing”.

Congressman Matthew Cartwright met with participants at the event and discussed his thoughts on current gun laws in the United States. They aren’t impossible to enforce.

Politicians across the nation have made it clear they do not fear our youth; for, to majority, teenagers are nothing more than reckless kids full of angst, and that we act out of emotion instead of by means of knowledge.

Chang believes that several courses of action can be taken in order to prevent further instances of gun violence. “[He] told me I captured the feelings he had had as a teacher at the high school in Newtown during the lockdown the day of the elementary school shooting”, she said.

“I think that this rally and the momentum that’s building around it is showing a lot of people that, oh wait, I can do something and I should be a part of something”, Pepe said. “That’s when we can start regulating gun control”. I went to D.C. expecting a rally about making schools safer.

“The way that you get people voting isn’t just by asking them to vote, it’s by illustrating the importance of their vote”. Learn their stances on the issues.

People like David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez and Noami Walder were already being lauded as future politicians and change-makers prior to the march.

Seventeen-year-old Averie Lester was one of those students who gathered on the outskirts of the march where the view of the stage was obscured, but the voices of student speakers, celebrity performances and the chants of their fellow protesters could still be heard. It is our duty to win! “We felt sort of a fellowship with American students because we’re all in the same boat”. “We have nothing to lose but our chains!”