Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Washington, DC, to protest and mourn after 17 people were killed in a high school shooting. Millions of Americans joined in solidarity. March for Our Lives is a student-led organization that is still fighting for stronger gun reform action from political leaders.
1,100 body bags were laid out along the National Mall, spelling out the phrase "thoughts and prayers" in honor of the anniversary of the school shooting.
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More than 170,000 people have been killed by gun violence in the last four years in America, according to the organization. Youth activists, survivors of the school shooting in Florida, and family members are among the people who participated in Thursday's demonstration. The youth advisory board members and founding organizers want to make it clear that this is more than just an art installation.
We are bringing that exposure, that violence we see every day on the streets, in our schools, and in our malls. Smith said that they were bringing it to politicians who had the luxury to ignore it. They won't come and listen to what we have to say.
Credit: March for Our Lives
Credit: March for Our Lives
The meaningless platitudes shared across social media and beyond have caused so much pain and devastation in the country.
In the press release, the co-chair of March for Our Lives said the fault of so many gun violence deaths lies with Congress. The crisis is preventable if politicians in Washington take their jobs seriously and care about their lives.
Large scale gun reform has yet to be enacted by the current presidential administration. In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Joe Biden announced an initiative to reduce rates of gun violence, focused on supporting local law enforcement and community violence intervention, and called on his fellow legislators to act on life-saving gun reform at the congressional level. Activists with the March for Our Lives thought that was not enough.
The politicians have created their own divisions. Many young people around me don't want to take part in the political process because politicians aren't following through on their promises. They want to use our images. They will have to take a picture of the body bags if they want a photo op today.
March for Our Lives and its partners Change the Ref and Guns Down America launched Shock Market.org, a tracking and advocacy tool that lets visitors monitor how many gun violence deaths have occurred since Biden took office. There have been 52,263 gun deaths since Biden took office, according to the site. The organization is putting pressure on current leaders and making voting cool. Young people are entering these political spectrums, and in the future they may be taking roles from these leaders.
The organizers hope that the congressional leaders see that the activists are not going to back down, and that they encourage those watching across the country to get involved. The bill requiring background checks will be sent to the U.S. Senate by the March for Our Lives, which is led by Chuck Schumer. You can find more about the demonstration at marchforourlives.com/thoughtsandprayers.
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