In 2018, protests against gun violence in the United States increased after a series of

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

s, most notably at the

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a public high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman D ...

on February 14 that year. An organized protest in the form of a national school walkout occurred on March 14.

March for Our Lives March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and wa ...

was held on March 24. Another major demonstration occurred April 20, 2018.

Demonstrations

Rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The anti-gun violence group

Never Again MSD Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was fo ...

, formed and led by survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, held a rally on February 17 in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, which was attended by hundreds of students. The Fort Lauderdale rally was followed by other protests across the country. On February 19, a group of teenagers staged a " lie-in" outside the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. Hundreds of students marched to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 20. Students also demonstrated at Florida's Capitol. In Kansas, several hundred high school students protested on February 21.

March 1 NRA-sponsor boycotts

The students from Parkland, Florida began encouraging companies who partner with the NRA — offering perks or discounts to members — to sever ties with the organization. Over a dozen companies dropped their NRA partnership in the days following.

Enough! National School Walkout

The Enough! National School Walkout was a

walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...

planned by organizers of the Students' March, that occurred on March 14, in response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. The protest had students, parents, and

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

students leaving schools for seventeen minutes (one minute for each person who died during the shooting) starting at 10:00 a.m. in their respective time zone. The protest was held exactly one month after the Stoneman Douglas shooting. The

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) supported the student's activism. Gun violence protest in Seattle, 14 March 2018

An estimated 3,000 schools and nearly 1 million students participated in the protest. Thousands of students gathered in Washington, D.C. and observed 17 minutes of silence with their backs turned to the

. At Greenbrier High School in

Greenbrier, Arkansas Greenbrier is a city in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,707 at the 2020 census, up from 4,706 at the 2010 census. ...

three students elected to receive corporal punishment in the form of two paddlings on the thighs for their participation in the walkout. This required parental consent, and was administered the same day. Nearly 200 U.S. colleges added their names to #NeverAgain Colleges, including the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT),

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. The colleges would not penalize high school students who face disciplinary action as a result of participating in a peaceful Never Again MSD protest. U.S. broadcaster

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

expressed support for the protests, including executive

Shari Redstone Shari Ellin Redstone (born April 14, 1954) is an American media executive with a background in numerous aspects of the entertainment industry and related ventures. She currently serves as the non-executive chairwoman of Paramount Global (formerly ...

making a $500,000 donation to March For Our Lives, and all Viacom U.S. cable networks (including

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

) suspending programming for seventeen minutes at a time at 10:00 a.m. in each time zone, in solidarity for the walkouts. The company also planned discussion and acknowledgement of the movement in programming and other output by its channels.

March for Our Lives

was a student-led demonstration in support of tighter

that took place on March 24, 2018, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with over 800 sibling events throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and around the world. Student organizers from

planned the march in collaboration with the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...

. The event followed the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...

, which was described by many media outlets as a possible tipping point for gun control

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

. Protesters urged for

universal background check Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the priva ...

s on all gun sales, raising the federal age of gun ownership and possession to the age of 21, closing of the

gun show loophole Gun show loophole is a political term in the United States referring to the sale of firearms by private sellers, including those done at gun shows, that do not require the seller to conduct a federal background check of the buyer. This is als ...

, a restoration of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines in the United States. Turnout was estimated to be between 1.2 and 2 million people in the United States, making it one of the largest protests in American history.

Northwestern Senior High School

On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, hundreds of students walked out of their Miami high school to protest gun violence after four current or former classmates were shot off campus. The students chanted "

no justice, no peace "No justice, no peace" is a political slogan which originated during protests against acts of ethnic violence against African Americans. Its precise meaning is contested. The slogan was used as early as 1986, following the killing of Michael Gri ...

" Tuesday and carried "enough is enough" signs outside Northwestern Senior High School. They staged the protest after the weekend shooting deaths of 17-year-old Kimson Green, a 10th-grader who was about to become a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, and 18-year-old Rickey Dixon, a former Northwestern student. Two other current or former classmates were wounded. The shooting happened Sunday at an apartment complex in the Liberty City neighborhood, which is plagued by gun violence.

April 20 The National School Walkout

The National School Walkout occurred nationally on April 20, 2018 which was the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. The movement was founded and organized by Lane Murdock of Ridgefield High School. On the day of the walkout, student demonstrators wore

safety orange Safety orange (also known as blaze orange, vivid orange, OSHA orange, hunter orange, or Caltrans orange) is a hue. Safety orange is used to set objects apart from their surroundings, particularly in complementary contrast to the azure colo ...

and departed from over 2600 schools to push for legislative action against gun violence.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:United States gun violence protests, 2018 Gun violence protests 2018 protests 2018 gun violence protests 2018 gun violence protests Stoneman Douglas High School shooting