March for Our Lives

The March for Our Lives was a student-led demonstration which took place on 24 March 2018 in Washington, D.C., with over 800 associated demonstrations throughout the United States and around the world. Student organizers planned the march in collaboration with the nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Many of the protesters urged the closing of the gun show loophole, a restoration of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines. The march was the largest student protest in American history, with millions of people estimated to have marched throughout the United States.

Quotes

 * Quotes of March of Our Lives organizers and participants

March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.
 * Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.
 * "Mission Statement"

A minority of gun owners have taken an extremely irresponsible position on gun ownership. Sensible reforms on gun ownership are long overdue.
 * We are patriotic Americans trying to stop the gun deaths. We do not want your guns; many of us have our own guns. We believe in and support the Second Amendment. What we demand is responsible gun ownership because we do not have that in America. Almost 16,000 people were killed and wounded with guns in America last year.
 * "Resistance Seacoast: Where we stand on gun violence" by Sarah Mae Brown, on behalf of Resistance Seacoast, organizers of the associated protest in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at seacoastonline (1 March 2018)

Quotes about March for Our Lives



 * Make no mistake about it, these groups, @PPFA and these far-left groups that are providing some kind of support here, their sole purpose is to take away your right to protect yourself and defend yourself.
 * Dan Bongino, as quoted in "NRA maligns student organizers ahead of March for Our Lives" by Kris Seavers at Daily Dot (23 March 2018)


 * Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School. … Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country, and in the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we’re donating $500,000 to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children’s lives depend on it.
 * George Clooney, as quoted in "Oprah Follows George and Amal Clooney’s Lead, to Donate $500,000 for Parkland Students’ March" in SFGate (20 February 2018)

While the federal spending bill passed by Congress early Friday morning didn’t go as far, new provisions do free up the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence and provide funds to strengthen the federal background check system.
 * In the month-and-a-half since the Parkland shooting, lawmakers have passed more gun control legislation than in the last decade. Florida adopted stricter gun control measures earlier this month, despite the NRA’s strong grip on the state legislature. The new law raises the minimum age for all gun purchases from 18 to 21, creates a background check waiting period for gun purchases, bans bump stocks, and allows school districts to arm school personnel.
 * Taylor Dolven, in "The NRA is attacking the teen organizers of March for Our Lives" at Vice News (23 March 2018)


 * To the celebs supporting #MarchForOurLives, we veterans are with you and the kids.
 * Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, on his twitter account, linking to his "Veterans For Gun Reform PSA" at Vimeo (22 March 2018)


 * Marilyn and I are proud to stand with the brave young leaders from Parkland, Florida, who have taken their pain and grief and turned it into action.
 * Jeffrey Katzenberg, as quoted in "Oprah Follows George and Amal Clooney’s Lead, to Donate $500,000 for Parkland Students’ March" in SFGate (20 February 2018)


 * If you’re too immature to carry a firearm, you’re too immature to make policy about firearms.
 * Dana Loesch, as quoted in "The NRA is attacking the teen organizers of March for Our Lives" by Taylor Dolven at Vice News (23 March 2018)


 * The young students in Florida and now across the country are already demonstrating their leadership with a confidence and maturity that belies their ages.
 * Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, as quoted in "Clooney, Winfrey, Spielberg offer $500,000 each for gun control march" by Nichola Groom, in Reuters (20 February 2018)


 * Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society. That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.... That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform. It would eliminate the only legal rule that protects sellers of firearms in the United States — unlike every other market in the world. It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honor the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.
 * John Paul Stevens, retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.


 * March For Our Lives is backed by radicals with a history of violent threats, language and actions.
 * Grant Stinchfield, in a segment on NRATV (21 March 2018), as quoted in "NRA says violent radicals are behind the March For Our Lives" by Jon Greenberg at Politifact (23 March 2018)


 * No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship. I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform. I’m so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again.
 * Taylor Swift, on her Instagram account, as quoted in "Taylor Swift rarely gets political. March for Our Lives just changed that." in Vox (23 March 2018)


 * These inspiring young people remind me of the Freedom Riders of the 60s who also said we’ve had ENOUGH and our voices will be heard.
 * Oprah Winfrey, on twitter (20 February 2018), as quoted in "Oprah Follows George and Amal Clooney’s Lead, to Donate $500,000 for Parkland Students’ March" in SFGate (20 February 2018)