'No more' or we vote you out - students lead huge U.S. anti-gun rallies

[rooster59]

'No more' or we vote you out - students lead huge U.S. anti-gun rallies

By Ian Simpson and Katanga Johnson

 

People walk with signs during "March for Our Lives", an organized demonstration to end gun violence, in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chanting "never again," hundreds of thousands of young Americans and their supporters answered a call to action from survivors of last month's Florida high school massacre and rallied across the country on Saturday to demand tighter gun laws.

 

In some of the biggest U.S. youth demonstrations for decades, protesters in cities nationwide called on lawmakers and President Donald Trump to confront the issue. Voter registration activists fanned out in the crowds, signing up thousands of the nation's newest voters.

 

At the largest March For Our Lives protest, demonstrators jammed Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue where they listened to speeches from survivors of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

 

There were sobs as one teenage survivor, Emma Gonzalez, read the names of the 17 victims and then stood in silence. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared out over the crowd for the rest of a speech that lasted six minutes and 20 seconds, the time it took for the gunman to slaughter them.

 

The massive March For Our Lives rallies aimed to break legislative gridlock that has long stymied efforts to increase restrictions on firearms sales in a nation where mass shootings like the one in Parkland have become frighteningly common.

 

"Politicians: either represent the people or get out. Stand with us or beware, the voters are coming," Cameron Kasky, a 17-year-old junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, told the crowd.

 

Another survivor, David Hogg, said it was a new day.

 

"We're going to make sure the best people get in our elections to run not as politicians, but as Americans. Because this - this - is not cutting it," he said, pointing at the white-domed Capitol behind the stage.

 

Youthful marchers filled streets in cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Diego and St. Louis.

 

More than 800 demonstrations were scheduled in the United States and abroad, according to coordinators, with events as far afield as London, Mauritius, Stockholm and Sydney.

 

'TAKE THEIR LIBERTY AWAY'

 

Underlining sharp differences among the American public over the issue, counter-demonstrators and supporters of gun rights were also in evidence in many U.S. cities.

 

Organizers of the anti-gun rallies want Congress, many of whose members are up for re-election in November, to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Florida rampage and to tighten background checks for gun buyers.

 

On the other side of the debate, gun rights advocates cite constitutional guarantees of the right to bear arms.

 

"All they're doing is asking the government to take their liberty away from them without due process," Brandon Howard, a 42-year-old Trump supporter, said of the protesters in the capital. He had a sign saying: "Keep your hands off my guns."

 

Wearing a red "Make America Great Again" sweatshirt, 16-year-old Connor Humphrey of San Luis Obispo, California, said: "Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

 

Humphrey, who was visiting Washington with his family for spring break, said he owns guns for target shooting and hunting and uses them responsibly. His school had a lockdown exercise last week.

 

"I think teachers should have guns," he said, echoing a proposal made by Trump after the Parkland killings.

 

In New York City, a handful of counter-demonstrators waved placards with messages such as "Keep America Armed" and "Re-elect Trump 2020."

 

CELEBRITIES BACK STUDENTS

 

Among those marching next to New York's Central Park to call for tighter gun controls was pop star Paul McCartney, who said he had a personal stake in the debate.

 

"One of my best friends was shot not far from here," he told CNN, referring to Beatles bandmate John Lennon, who was gunned down near the park in 1980.

 

Taking aim at the National Rifle Association gun lobby, teenagers chanted, "Hey, hey, NRA, how many kids have you killed today?"

 

On stage in Washington, one of the Parkland students who was shot and survived, Samantha Fuentes, was so overcome with emotion that she vomited during her speech.

 

"I just threw up on international television and it feels great," she said to loud cheers afterward.

 

The young U.S. organizers have won kudos and cash from dozens of celebrities, with singers Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande, as well as "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, among those performing in Washington. Actor George Clooney and his human rights attorney wife, Amal, donated $500,000 and said they would be at the Washington rally.

 

American football team the New England Patriots loaned its plane to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and their families to travel to Washington for the march.

 

White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said the administration applauded "the many courageous young Americans" who exercised their free-speech rights.

 

"Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the president's," said Walters, noting that on Friday the Justice Department proposed rule changes that would effectively ban "bump stock" devices that let semi-automatic weapons fire like a machine gun.

 

Also on Friday, Trump signed a $1.3-trillion (919.77 billion pounds) spending bill including modest improvements to background checks for gun sales and grants to help schools prevent gun violence.

 

Former President Barack Obama said on Twitter that he and his wife Michelle were inspired by all the young people who made the marches happen.

 

"Keep at it. You're leading us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change," Obama said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-25

[Credo]

The time has come for change.   Real change.   Meaningful change.   

 

MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN

[Samui Bodoh]

41 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Wearing a red "Make America Great Again" sweatshirt, 16-year-old Connor Humphrey of San Luis Obispo, California, said: "Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

 

Actually, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." is not correct. 

 

People with guns kill people. 

 

[poanoi]

a boy with a knife cant rack up the kills like a boy with an AK-47 can,

and quite possibly the boy with the knife wont even try since

odds are he get overwhelmed quickly

[Scott]

Troll posts and posts with misinformation have been removed.  

 

Continue and face a suspension.

[lannarebirth]

I applaud the grassroots effort and enthusiasm of the young people. I think they are about to get a lesson in realpolitik as every interest group imaginable tries to exploit that effort and enthusiasm and naivete for their own ends. I hope Congress listens to them.

[utalkin2me]

I also admire the enthusiasm and think it’s a good sign for real, actual change down the line generations from now, of every kid starts to think like this. The whole “voting them out” paradigm just simply doesn’t work though. It’s not nearly that simple. They’ll just be replaced by someone who’s just as manipulated by the lobby. 

[milwaukeeboy]

Yet there no anti-war protests as thousands of teenage Americans use guns and other weapons to slaughter innocent children almost daily in various countries under the guise of "national security". And they use the catch phrase "collateral damage" so that everything is fine and dandy.

This is a bizarre world.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

41 minutes ago, milwaukeeboy said:

Yet there no anti-war protests as thousands of teenage Americans use guns and other weapons to slaughter innocent children almost daily in various countries under the guise of "national security". And they use the catch phrase "collateral damage" so that everything is fine and dandy.

This is a bizarre world.

 

The 70s were a different era, not long after Kennedy asked people to "do for their country, not for themselves", and formed the Peace Corps.

Now, many are all about me, me, me.

I wonder if those on the march even consider what their countrymen are doing abroad?

[pegman]

Enormous crowd in D.C estimated at between 5-800,000. Good on them and good on the sponsors like Kraft who lent those kids the Pat's plane.

[farcanell]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States

 

so I was wondering about the incident rate of school shootings since the feb 14 massacre (about one per week).... and came across this article.

 

apparently america has a bit of a tradition in this respect, with massacres in schools predating the actually inception of the United States of america.

 

Good luck to the USA youth.... traditions are hard to break... hopefully the voting parents listen to their children

[farcanell]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

All they're doing is asking the government to take their liberty away from them without due process," Brandon Howard, a 42-year-old Trump supporter, said of the protesters in the capital. He had a sign saying: "Keep your hands off my guns."

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

they are asking their representatives in government, and their dear leader, to make changes, or risk a voter backlash.

 

nothing to do with denying due process... although I’m pretty sure that the intelligent people, seeking change, will be fully aware that change must be via due process

[Jingthing]

I'm going to go there because I'm an adult. 

This protest is not only about school shootings.

It's about comprehensive gun control, an issue that all civilized Americans support. 

No, it doesn't mean an Australian solution because that's impossible. But there is still an awful lot that can and should be done, for example comprehensive background checks (which no backbone "trump" was for until he he met with the NRA and was against) and for Christ's sake also for gun show and online sales! That loophole is OUTRAGEOUS.

Anyway, the student protest movement is rather refreshingly NON-PARTISAN. They are correct to feel that such common sense civilized comprehensive gun control reforms should not be partisan, should not be blue vs. red.

But guess what, folks, and they will learn it to.

It is!

These students have a brilliant and potentially very effective tactic and the NRA is running scared now.

Register young people massively and get out the vote!

With gun control a key issue, this wonderful movement has pledged to have TOWN HALLS and invite candidates to attend. If they refuse to attend -- DUMP THEM! If they do attend and they don't meet the CLEAR AGENDA of this movement (REAL GUN CONTROL) the word will be out -- DUMP THEM and support another candidate of whatever party that does.

He's where my adult comes in. 

99 percent of time the candidate they are going to support on gun control issues is going to be a DEMOCRAT or in rare cases another small party but definitely NOT a republican. 

Very senior Senator Feinstein of California (hardly from the far left) has launched a bill with about 30 co-sponsers now to ban automatic weapons.

There is not even ONE republican that will join in that or probably vote for it if it ever came to a vote at all, a decision which the "trump" republicans control in the senate.

That's what I'm talking about.

The students are idealistic and that's great. They aren't tying their movement to a party, but get real ... the republicans will continue to be WORTHLESS on their issues.

I'm sorry for them that their movement will need to grow up soon and abandon their non-partisan ideals. But they will. There is no choice if they're serious about their issues. 

 

To add, this young woman Emma Gonzalez has a bright future in politics if she wants that, and trust me, if she goes there, it will NOT be as a freakin' "trump" republican!!!!!

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, milwaukeeboy said:

Yet there no anti-war protests as thousands of teenage Americans use guns and other weapons to slaughter innocent children almost daily in various countries under the guise of "national security". And they use the catch phrase "collateral damage" so that everything is fine and dandy.

This is a bizarre world.

 

Totally off topic.

Personally I wish they were marching to impeach the ridiculous criminally corrupt con man in the white house, but this is THEIR time, this is THEIR movement, and congratulations to them for their amazing passion and I am now predicting long term persistence and real change. 

[Opl]

 The aerial view of the March For Our Lives crowd:

 

 Trump’s inauguration crowd:

 

https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/24/march-for-our-lives-draws-3-times-more-people-to-dc-than-trumps-inauguration.html

[Jingthing]

"trump" was out to lunch (so to speak) for both crowds.

At his inauguration giving his bizarre white nationalist angry speech  and for the March For Our Lives running in pathetic scared denial to one of his golf courses in Florida. It's a bit ironic ... the movement that emerged from south Florida and "trump" runs away from the D.C. to south Florida. 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Jingthing

[Thakkar]

The Hill (@thehill)

3/25/18, 7:25 AM

March for Our Lives draws bigger crowd than Trump inauguration, organizers say hill.cm/QvyXOLX pic.twitter.com/1Vk5DYK8T1

[Luckysilk]

I'm curious who paid for this show ? Stage, buses, sound equipment etc ??? 

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

I'm curious who paid for this show ? Stage, buses, sound equipment etc ??? 

Word is a large amount of funding came from George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey. 

But it's a very real, organic, and authentically sincere movement coming from young people all over the country.

Of course they need funding. That doesn't deflate their MESSAGE. 

To add, quite profoundly ONLY the young people spoke at this historic event in D.C. No politicians, no movie stars, ONLY the young activists. 

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Jingthing

[Bill Miller]

20 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

I'm curious who paid for this show ? Stage, buses, sound equipment etc ??? 

Sounds like a passive/aggressive effort to demean the event, IMO.
These "kids" are not going away, and no, they have not been "put up to it" by Soros or any other political advocate. They are simply sick and tired of being used for target practice by insane MAGA and NRA freaks.

 

[Thakkar]

28 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

I'm curious who paid for this show ? Stage, buses, sound equipment etc ??? 

It wasn’t The NRA. They spent all their money buying Trump.

[Jingthing]

Keeping on the partisan theme (sorry idealists) I think "trump's" flip flop on the comprehensive background check thing can be a very powerful issue to defeat him in 2020 (if he makes it to that point). There is no doubt that the vast majority of Americans (of both parties) support comprehensive background checks and also closing the gun show/online sales loophole, including ironically a good portion of actual NRA members (as opposed to their corrupt industry driven leadership). "trump" being owned by the NRA means of course he's just another corrupt lobby owned politician, his "outsider" brand is dead.

 

 Keep going students and never give up! 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Jingthing

[Opl]

[mfd101]

Democracy at work. An example for Thailand. If only ...

[punchjudy]

I hope they keep at it and vote the corrupt old dinosaurs out of office

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, pegman said:

Enormous crowd in D.C estimated at between 5-800,000. Good on them and good on the sponsors like Kraft who lent those kids the Pat's plane.

@ sevenhills, what is so funny about this post?

[Opl]

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

If they refuse to attend -- DUMP THEM! If they do attend and they don't meet the CLEAR AGENDA of this movement (REAL GUN CONTROL) the word will be out -- DUMP THEM and support another candidate of whatever party that does.

I wasn't aware that children could vote in primaries in the US.

[HLover]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I wasn't aware that children could vote in primaries in the US.

Nice, it took 28 posts but someone else finally realized that the person they quoted is only 17 years old.

[Jingthing]

22 minutes ago, HLover said:

Nice, it took 28 posts but someone else finally realized that the person they quoted is only 17 years old.

When threatened by a mass movement of goodness, truth, and POWER - resort to the surreal. 

 

Back to "trump" busting reality -- about FOUR MILLION Americans turn 18 every year. "trump" won the national election electorally by winning only four "surprise" states by very thin margins. 

 

The political implications of this youth movement are mind boggling. Yes, normally young voters vote in low numbers. That can change! 

 

Also it's not only the current 17 year olds that largely will be eligible vote THIS NOVEMBER, but an additional FOUR MILLION every year going forward.

 

NRA -- finally, be afraid. We've got your number!

Edited March 25, 2018 by Jingthing