The March for Our Lives

On February 14th, the most recent school shooting took place in a secondary school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A former students entered the school by semi-automatic rifle and killed 17 students. This shooting joined a long list of school killings in recent years. However, this latest massacre has given rise to a huge student movement that has, in many ways, surprised the country’s political establishment. It was thought that this latest event, like the previous ones, will be forgotten shortly, the movement will die down, and we will be waiting for the next massacre which has become the most vulnerable aspect of the American life.

Forty days after the shooting, the Student Movement was more forceful then ever. Through the social networks the youth of the United States was mobilized, and on Saturday, March 24, more than 500 thousand Americans gathered in Washington DC, to participate in a “March For Our Lives” rally. On the same day, in 800 cities throughout the world, there were demonstrations of support by millions of people.

During the rally, the student speakers were demanding from the members of Congress and the White House to pass new laws to restrict the free sale of guns, specially to those who are at a younger age.

One of the main characteristics of this movement is, that they not limiting themselves with protesting only. They are dedicated in turning their newly found platform into a political force, during the upcoming November elections, against all those candidates who receive millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the NRA, the lobbying arm of the gun manufacturing companies, and who with their silence and inaction, have been selling the lives of the citizens.

In United States no city or school is immune from such shootings. This movement should also inspire American-Armenian students to participate in these important political processes.

“MASSIS”