Just last month in Parkland, Florida, which was named Florida's safest city last year, Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school was the scene of a tragic school shooting where 17 students were killed, and many more students were injured both physically and emotionally. What can we expect to happen throughout the rest of Florida, and the rest of the country, if the safest city in Florida was just the scene of a horrific school shooting?
The shooter, who was a 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, was described by many as a troubled kid. Many students who had attended the high school at the same time as him said that, based on his actions, they were not surprised that he was the shooter. How was a kid who was not allowed to carry a backpack in the halls of his high school for fear of his actions allowed to buy a gun? Yes, the AR-15 used in the school shooting was purchased legally by the shooter.
Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school immediately knew that something was wrong with our gun laws and that something needed to change immediately. As a result, the students started the March For Our Lives. The students are tired of politicians who after every mass shooting say "now is not the time to talk about gun control" or "the victims need time to mourn." The students also know that it should not have been so easy for the shooter at their school to obtain a gun, regular citizens have no need for semiautomatic weapons like the AR-15 used in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting, and that the funding of our politicians by the NRA needs to stop immediately.
The March For Our Lives is a march on Washington which is being led by the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on March 24th. These students know that they are not alone in these gun regulation related beliefs mention above. As a result, they are hosting the March For Our Lives as a way to bring people together to show our government just how many people believe that a change needs to be made, and that change needs to be made now.
While the main March For Our Lives is the one being led by the Parkland students in Washington, there are 371 marches happening around the world. You can support this movement by attending a rally in your area. You can also donate to a local rally or the main one in Washington if you can not attend yourself. You can find information on local marches and how to get involved on the official March For Our Lives website at www.marchforourlives.com
