March For Our Lives is Going to Change the Gun Control Conversation | Teen Ink

March For Our Lives is Going to Change the Gun Control Conversation

March 11, 2019
By mruff1103 BRONZE, Denver, Colorado
mruff1103 BRONZE, Denver, Colorado
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Where would I go? Where would I hide? What would I do? Would I survive? These thoughts run through my mind daily. Whether I’m at school, the movie theatre, or even a waffle house, I’m always thinking about what I would do in a shooting. The only thing keeping these thoughts at ease is March For Our Lives.


This movement and its morals are things I’ve believed in for a long time. The popularity and a major agreement with March For Our Lives makes me think other Americans feel this way too. I believe that this movement, March For Our Lives, will change the majority opinion to support stricter gun laws.


One of these laws includes raising the legal age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21. According to Politico, in a recent poll, 82% of Americans want the legal age to purchase firearms raised from 18 to 21. Not only this, but Politico also found that 88% of Americans support background checks on all gun sales. These two points are only a small example of what March For Our Lives is doing.


These are not the only laws commonly agreed on. Just recently, the Trump Administration ruled for a new federal regulation that officially bans bump-fire stocks. After the news came out addressing that the Las Vegas gunman used bump stocks to increase rapid fire on concertgoers, bump stocks became another reason for gun violence. I have seen March For Our Lives advocates supporting the ban of bump stocks; thus this regulation is supported among those who contribute to this movement.


Although it may appear there is also a majority of people who don’t support this movement, I can assure you, there really isn’t. According to The New Yorker, A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 97% of Republicans support universal background checks and 43% of Republicans support a ban on assault weapons. In the same article, John Cassidy wrote, “Take upstate New York, which is normally considered a pro-gun area. Roughly five thousand people marched in Rochester, the biggest gun-control demonstration the city has ever seen. Another three thousand marched in Buffalo, and more than a thousand marched in Syracuse. ” This shows that even many people, thought to be pro-gun, have changed their minds because of March For Our Lives.


After doing all of this research I thought to myself if the majority supports gun control, what’s the hold-up? It confuses me why our government isn’t working for the people, but instead doing the least amount of work possible to protect Americans. In conclusion, I believe that this movement will continue the process of demanding change and safety for America’s citizens.

 


Works Cited

Cassidy, John. "Will the March for Our Lives Lead to Real Change?" The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2018, www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/will-the-march-for-our-lives-lead-to-real-change. Accessed 1 Mar. 2019.

Jarrett, Laura. "Trump administration officially bans bump stocks." CNN Politics, 18 Dec. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/bump-stocks-ban/index.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2019.

Mejia, Zameena. "How the March For Our Lives Gen Z organizers changed the gun control conversation when no one else could." CNBC Make It, 24 Mar. 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/03/23/how-the-march-for-our-lives-organizers-changed-the-gun-control-conversation.html. Accessed 21 Feb. 2019.

The New York Times. "March for Our Lives Highlights: Students Protesting Guns Say 'Enough Is Enough.'" The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/24/us/march-for-our-lives.html. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.

Wit, Emily. "The March for Our Lives Presents a Radical New Model for Youth Protest." The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2018, www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-march-for-our-lives-presents-a-radical-new-model-for-youth-protest. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019.

Shepard, Steven. "Gun control support surges in polls." Politico, 28 Feb. 2018,

           www.politico.com/story/2018/02/28/gun-control-polling-parkland-430099.

           Accessed 1 Mar. 2019.


The author's comments:

Mayson Ruff a Colorado teen writes about her own opinion on the March For Our Lives movment.


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