- Press Release
Two Years Since the Second March For Our Lives and the Passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – We Won’t Stop Marching
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two years ago today, following the twin tragedies in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX, hundreds of thousands of people marched across the country and in Washington, D.C. to demand action on gun violence. Youth organizers stepped up once again to lead these efforts and, together with survivors, teachers, parents, and others, we took to the streets to again march for our lives and demand common sense gun safety laws. Less than two weeks after we marched, and after meetings with nearly 80 Congressional offices, we won the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA).
Since we rose up and walked out of our classrooms in 2018, young people have changed the terms of the political conversation and turned gun safety from a third-rail issue to a front-and-center issue in the political landscape. We turned that moment into a movement, organizing since 2018 to build the youth power that helped push BSCA over the finish line in 2022. Since that second march, we took our fight to statehouses across the country and helped pass dozens of other bills—from holding gun manufacturers accountable, investing in community violence intervention programs, to the passage of life-saving legislation in Michigan and California, and even an order tightening background checks in Tennessee. From walkouts, rallies, town halls, and even lobby days that spurred national attention, young people with March For Our Lives continue to flex our political power and inspire others to join our movement.
Even as we’ve secured transformative change that will save lives, we still have so much more to do. Young people are once again poised to be the difference makers in this election, likely making the margins of victory in races up and down the ballot in places like Michigan, Arizona, and New York, Montana, and Florida, where March For Our Lives will focus our electoral work. To secure hard-fought victories, we will once again organize young people nationwide to prevent the far-right from surging back to power and elevate young voices, especially Black and brown young people. Indeed, gun violence has continued to be a motivating force for young people to make change, and it’s clear that the 2024 election will be no different. We look forward to building on the momentum of BSCA and our organizing over the last few years, to keep fighting for a world where we can live free of gun violence.
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