Will You Join the “March for Our Lives?” Your Life May Depend Upon Its Success

Today, June 11, 2022, all across America, protests against our government will take place. This is the second “March for Our Lives.” The first was on March 24, 2018. It was organized by the young men and women who survived a mass shooting at their school, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. A lone gunman, armed with an assault rifle, murdered 17 and injured 17.

After the murder of 10 people in a predominately Black supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on May 14th of this year, a second march was planned. Today is the day to march.

The American people are tired of waiting for one party to place the safety of all Americans in priority number one. We are no longer accepting their choice to bow to the NRA gun lobby, whose only purpose is to protect the profits of gun manufacturers and gun sellers.

The largest march is expected to take place in Washington D.C. Attending will be students who survived the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland, and parents of the 20 children and six educators slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.

Most Americans are fed-up with politicians who hide behind the outdated and controversial second amendment. In no way does it protect the right of ordinary citizens to own military-style weapons which have a single purpose, to kill large numbers of human beings in a short period of time. Nor does it prevent comprehensive background checks for every gun purchase in the United States. We are tired of their lies and excuses. We don’t want their “thoughts and prayers.” We want them to make it safe to go to church, attend a movie, shop at a mall, enjoy an evening at a bar, attend a concert, or send our children to school without fear of them being shot by a deranged gunman.

“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” said Trevon Bosley, a board member of March for Our Lives.

Governments have a single responsibility, to care for the safety and the future of their people. Our government continues to fail us and work for special interests and themselves. This issue has become another problem which should not be about politics, but one party continues to make it one of the biggest issues in America. Ignored, this issue results in the loss of human life.

There are more mass shootings than days on the calendar. Most are not nationally reported because four or more shot or killed in a single shooting is the standard. We only hear about those which result in a large number of deaths. This is another failure of the mainstream media.

Mariah Cooley, a board member, said: “Right now we are angry. This will be a demonstration to show that as Americans, we’re not stopping anytime soon until Congress does their jobs. And if not, we’ll be voting them out.”

That’s the answer, voting. Any member of congress who is a member of the NRA and receives bribe money from the gun lobby must be voted out of office. This would include the entire right side of the aisle in the Capitol Building.

I am not able to walk in a protest march today, but I will be with every one of you, and my voice will remain loud and demanding. The second amendment cannot be used to justify the deaths of more than 40,000 Americans who are shot by a gun every year. This happens only in the United States and makes our country the most dangerous in the world.

Op-ed by James Turnage
Edited by Marrissa Kay

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Sources:

The Guardian: ‘Enough is enough’: thousands rally across US in gun control protests; by Edward Helmore and Lauren Aratani
Hartford Courant: Sandy Hook survivors, families and Connecticut advocates to join March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C.; By Taylor Hartz

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Victoria Pickering’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of mathiaswasik’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License