Parkland Students Challenge the National Rifle Association
CHAPTER 1 MARCH FOR OUR LIVES On On March 24 2018 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School gathered in Washington DC The students were not on a field trip They were in the nation’s capital to speak out against gun violence The students were survivors of a school shooting in Parkland Florida The month before a young man had entered their school and started shooting He had killed 17 people Thousands of people gather in Washington DC for the March for Our Lives protest 5
The students who survived were traumatized They were sad and outraged The shooting in Parkland was far from the first in the United States Over the years many people have asked politicians to create new gun laws These activists want to make it more difficult to obtain a gun But change has been slow to come A major barrier to change is the National Rifle Association NRA This powerful organization is against gun control It lobbies in support of gun rights The NRA has nearly five million members It also has support from many politicians Even so the Parkland students chose to stand up to the NRA After the shooting the survivors quickly started organizing for their cause In a few weeks they planned the March for Our Lives protest On March 24 hundreds of thousands of people attended the event in Washington DC Protesters 6
Students lie in front of the White House in a protest for gun control included students parents and teachers Other protesters marched in cities across the country At the event in Washington DC Parkland students made speeches Popular singers performed Other students spoke too One was Yolanda Renee King the nine-year-old granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr The speakers varied in age but were united in their message They had had enough of gun violence and were ready to fight for new gun laws 7
