Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington and in other U.S. cities Saturday to rally for tougher gun laws following a recent mass deadly shooting that sparked outrage and political activism among young people across the country.
“Politicians, either represent the people or get out,” Cameron Kasky, a student survivor of the February 14 massacre of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, said at Washington’s “March for Our Lives” demonstration.
He told the crowd, “The people demand a law banning the sale of assault weapons. The people demand prohibit the sale of high capacity magazines. The people demand universal background checks. Stand for us or beware the votes are coming.”
Government faulted
Alex Wind, also a Stoneman Douglas student, said at the Washington rally, “To those saying teenagers can’t do anything, I am here to say teenagers are the only ones who could have made this movement possible.”
Wind said the government “has been useless” on the issue of gun control “for too long.”
More than 800 sister “March for Our Lives” events were planned in each of the 50 U.S. states and worldwide, and hundreds of thousands of people were expected to participate. As many as 500,000 people were expected at the rally in the U.S. capital alone, according to student organizing groups and the gun-control group Everytown For Gun Safety.
Student organizers were demanding that children’s lives be made a higher priority for the country and that the epidemic of mass school shootings be stopped. Organizers like Parkland shooting survivor Sari Kaufman said they intended to ensure that Saturday’s marches would be the genesis of a political movement.
“Today is just the beginning,” she said. “Parkland and the rest of the world have been sprinting, but these sprints are just warmup laps. As of now, we have officially started our marathon that will last until we make the change for safer gun policies.”
Gun rights advocates also were among the throngs of demonstrators in Washington. A man who wanted to be identified only as “Joe” from upstate New York told VOA in front of the Trump International Hotel just blocks from the White House, “This whole march … is just an emotional reaction to something that is very tragic.” He said gun control proposals, such as banning semiautomatic weapons like the one used in the Parkland shooting, are not “going to reduce gun violence, it’s just going to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
But Edna Chavez, 17, said she traveled nearly 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles) from Los Angeles to Washington to “impact policies and make sure our voices are heard.”
“I have lived in South L.A. my entire life and have lost many loved ones to gun violence,” Chavez said. “This is normal — normal to the point that I’ve learned to duck from bullets before I learned how to read.”
‘I’ve had enough’
Zion Kelly, a Washington student, told protesters spoke about his twin brother, Zaire, who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery on the street in September 2017.
Zion Kelly said he spoke on behalf of those students who face the threat of gun violence every time they walk to and from school.
The Kelly family is proposing legislation, to be named after Zaire, to create safe passage zones to and from schools and other activities.
He became emotional talking about losing his twin, and people in the crowd shouted support and cheered him.
“My name is Zion Kelly, and just like you, I’ve had enough,” he said in ending his speech.
President Donald Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida during the Washington rally, but White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement, “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today. Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the president’s, which is why he urged Congress to pass the Fix NICS [the National Instant Criminal Background Check System] and STOP School Violence Acts, and signed them into law.”
Walters also noted the Department of Justice moved to ban bump stocks Friday through regulations by issuing a proposed rule that would define ‘machine gun’ to include the devices, which allow semiautomatic guns to function like automatic weapons.
Americans have been reluctant to give up their guns, and there have been few changes in gun laws in response to mass shootings.
Shifting positions
A new poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates, however, that sentiment may be changing. The poll found that 69 percent of Americans surveyed thought gun laws should be tightened, up from 61 percent in in October 2016 and 55 percent in October 2013.
Overall, the survey indicated 90 percent of Democrats, 50 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of gun owners favored stricter gun control laws.
But nearly half of Americans, the poll revealed, do not expect their politicians to change gun laws.
Student activists, however, have begun concentrating on voter registration, with midterm congressional elections coming up in the fall. The March for Our Lives website said the drive had almost reached its goal of raising $3.8 million.
Actor George Clooney and wife, Amal Clooney, a human rights lawyer, gave March for Our Lives a $500,000 donation, which was matched by actress and TV host Oprah Winfrey, director Steven Spielberg and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres and photo publishing service Shutterfly announced a joint donation of $50,000. Model Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend, a musician, pledged $25,000.
The Clooneys, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, singers Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato, and actors Jennifer Hudson, Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen all expressed intention to attend Saturday’s march in Washington.
Moves to tighten U.S. gun laws are traditionally opposed by the National Rifle Association, the country’s preeminent group of gun rights supporters.
…
