March For Our Lives is something special. It’s sure to be remembered as a pivotal event in American history when hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in Washington DC and across the country to demand gun control.
The march was conceived and organized by the students of Stoneman Douglas school in Parkland, Florida. Their determination to make changes in gun control laws inspired a nation wide, student led movement to insist Congress take action to curb gun violence in America.
Saturday will see over 800 sibling marches take place across the country, each one organized by high school students. With over half a million people expected to show up just in Washington DC alone, this may turn out to be one of the largest national rallies in history.
Naturally, any time the subject of gun control comes up there are people who start screaming there rights are being violated but the motivation behind the march is simple. They are making 3 demands of America’s politicians.
- Pass a law to ban the assault weapons frequently used to carry out mass shootings
- Stop the sale of high-capacity magazines, restricting the amount of ammunition
- Close loopholes in America’s background checks and implement laws that require background checks on every gun purchase, including those that occur online or at gun shows
Besides marching, there’ll be a rally with speeches being delivered by high school students. And of course there’ll be star studded live entertainment from Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Common, Vic Mensa, Andra Day, Miley Cyrus, Lin Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt. The Guardian will be covering events via student journalists from Stoneman Douglas who’ve taken over as guest editors.
