March for Our Lives: What They’re Saying

The New York Times: “Hundreds of thousands of protesters, outraged by a recent massacre at a South Florida school and energized by the students who survived, are thronging streets across the globe in public protests on Saturday, demanding action against gun violence in their most ambitious show of force yet.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution: “’This movement is powerful,’ U.S. Rep. John Lewis told the Atlanta marchers. ‘Keep it going. Keep it going. Hang in there and keep it going, and we will have a victory.’ Lewis’ presence at the front of the Atlanta march evoked an earlier era of unrest and activism. But the day belonged to the young people who have mobilized since the Parkland shooting.”

The New Yorker: “After every mass shooting, there’s a public outcry, but it frequently fades without real progress; something feels profoundly different this time. The energy on the street was crackling, undeniable. How do you define or explain a tipping point?”

The Chicago Tribune: “From bullet-riddled neighborhoods in Chicago and packed trains coming from the suburbs, swarms of young people arrived at Union Park today, joining a nationwide cry for gun reform by a generation determined to prevent another tragedy like the one at Marjory Stoneman High School in Florida.”

Mic: “When the history books mention Saturday’s March for Our Lives, a nationwide mobilization of teenagers protesting the prevalence of gun violence, they will have to note the display of diversity, national civil rights and racial justice leaders say.”

The Washington Post: “Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the nation’s capital and cities across the U.S. Saturday to demand an end to gun violence, the latest and most visible show of force by a student-led political movement in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla.”

The Boston Globe: “The March for Our Lives that swept the nation Saturday didn’t only draw people to Boston and other major cities. Across Massachusetts, small cities and towns held marches and rallies to press for stricter gun control laws and safer school in the wake of the mass shooting last month that killed 17 at a Florida high school.”

Huff Post: “As the March For Our Lives protests took over cities across America, allies also made noise overseas to show in solidarity with the survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. Demonstrators from France, Germany, Spain and all the way from Tokyo took to the streets to protest gun violence in the United States. Hundreds of international protesters urged U.S. lawmakers to change the country’s gun laws, while reminding them that the rest of the world is watching.”

The Seattle Times: “While the energy of protest marches can sometimes fizzle into inaction, the student organizers have specific legislative goals in mind: universal background checks. Ending the effective ban on federally funded research into gun violence. Banning the sale of semi-automatic rifles. Raising the legal age to own a gun in Washington state, from 18 to 21.”