If you want to join those making a statement about school shootings this month, you won’t have to venture to our nation’s capitol to do so. You can simply head to Lake Bluff Park in downtown St. Joseph and join the local contingent sharing in that movement on Saturday, March 24th.
Following tragedies like Parkland, Florida and Sandy Hook, increasing numbers of people are searching for meaningful solutions instead of thoughts and prayers following school shootings. Locally, organizers are assembling the March for Our Lives St. Joseph event on Saturday, March 24th at 2:30pm. The March will begin on the bluff in St. Joseph at 520 Lake Boulevard and will feature a peaceful walk on the bluff to the lake and up the stairs, “To show our children, teachers and communities we are listening to them – that enough is enough. We need to stop thinking this will go away. We have to find a solution and invite you to come and walk the walk.”
The local March for Our Lives coincides with a national walk on Washington D.C., and is one of more than 500 already lined up for that day.
The nationwide movement is encouraging citizens to sign an online petition and to make their voices heard. Here is what national organizers have to say on their own master website:
We support the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, as set forth in the United States Constitution.
But with that right comes responsibility.
We call on all the adults in Congress elected to represent us, to pass legislation that will protect and save children from gun violence.
Our elected officials MUST ACT by:
- Passing a law to ban the sale of assault weapons like the ones used in Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, Aurora, Sandy Hook and, most recently, to kill 17 innocent people and injure more than a dozen others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Of the 10 deadliest shootings over the last decade, seven involved the use of assault weapons.
No civilian should be able to access these weapons of war, which should be restricted for use by our military and law enforcement only. These guns have no other purpose than to fire as many bullets as possible and indiscriminately kill anything they are pointed at with terrifying speed.
- Prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines such as the ones the shooter at our school—and so many other recent mass shootings used.
States that ban high-capacity magazines have half as many shootings involving three or more victims as states that allow them.
Limiting the number of bullets a gun can discharge at one time will at least force any shooter to stop and reload, giving children a chance to escape.
- Closing the loophole in our background check law that allows dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms to slip through the cracks and buy guns online or at gun shows.
97-percent of Americans support closing the current loopholes in our background check system.
When Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks on all handgun sales, they saw a 40-percent reduction in gun homicides.
22-percent of gun sales in this country take place without a background check. That’s millions of guns that could be falling into dangerous hands.
A background check should be required on every gun sale, no exceptions.
The children of this country can no longer go to school in fear that each day could be their last.
To take part in the local march, simply plan to be there at the start on March 24th at 2:30pm and walk with those who join you in St. Joe.
