Organizers expect the second March for Our Lives rally to draw about 50,000 protesters to the Washington Monument. This is far less than the initial course of 2018, which filled downtown Washington with more than 200,000 people. This time, the organizers are focusing on conducting smaller marches in about 300 locations. “We want to make sure this work is done across the country,” said Daud Mumin, co-chair of the course board and a recent graduate of Westminster College in Salt Lake City. “This project is not just about DC, it’s not just about senators.” According to the March for Our Lives website, there is a planned rally in Toronto, near the US Consulate at University Ave. Former lawmaker and survivor of armed violence Gabby Giffords appears at an arms control rally in Washington, DC, on November 3, 2021, with David Hogg, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student and a member of the March for Our Lives board. (Jose Luis Magana / The Associated Press) The first march was instigated on February 14, 2018, with the murder of 14 students and three staff members by a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The massacre sparked the March For Our Lives movement, which successfully pushed the Republican-dominated Florida state government to enact sweeping gun control reforms. Parkland students then targeted gun laws in other states and nationwide, starting the March for Our Lives and holding the big rally in Washington on March 24, 2018. The group did not match Florida’s results nationally, but insisted on supporting gun restrictions since then, as well as participating in voter registration.
He hopes that the recent tragedies can push for legislative change
With another series of mass shootings restoring gun control to the national debate, this weekend’s event organizers say it is the right time to renew their push for a national reform. “We’re angry right now,” said Mariah Cooley, a board member of March For Our Lives and a senior at Howard University in Washington. “This is going to be a show to show that we Americans will not stop until Congress does its job. And if not, we will vote for them.” CLOCKS Miah Cerrillo’s testimony occupies Congress hearing:
Texas school shooting survivor gives graphic evidence to committee
This video contains content that some viewers may find annoying. Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader who survived the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, described how she avoided the gunman as she killed her classmates. The protest comes at a time of renewed political gun activity and a critical moment for possible action in Congress. Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of armed violence pressured lawmakers and testified at the Capitol this week. Among them was Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old girl who survived the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. She told lawmakers she covered herself in the blood of a dead classmate to avoid being shot. On Tuesday, actor Matthew McConaughey appeared in the White House newsroom to push for gun legislation and made very personal remarks about the violence in his hometown of Ovalde. CLOCKS McConaughey calls for bipartisan action:
Matthew McConaughey Makes Emotional Call for Arms Control Reform
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey made an emotional call for gun control reform in the United States during a White House speech. Uvalde, Texas, the site of a recent deadly shooting at an elementary school, is the actor’s hometown. Parliament passed bills that would raise the age limit for the purchase of semi-automatic weapons and enact federal laws on the “red flag”. However, such initiatives have traditionally been halted or greatly weakened in the Senate. Democratic and Republican senators were hoping to reach an agreement this week on a framework for addressing the issue and discussed it Friday, but did not announce an agreement until early tonight. Mumin referred to the Senate as “where the real action dies” and said the new course was intended to send a message to lawmakers that public opinion on arms control is shifting beneath their feet. “If they are not on our side, there will be consequences – to vote for them out of office and make their lives hell when they are in office,” he said.
