What Comes After The March For Our Lives?

Published March 26, 2018 at 9:00 AM CDT

Protesters attend the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control in Washington, Saturday, March 24, 2018, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Hundreds of thousands of people marched on Washington and around the country to demand stricter gun control this weekend.

But that’s just the first step, David Hogg, a survivor of the February Parkland, Florida school shooting, told us Monday.

The students are already planning another school walkout on April 20, and on April 7, they’re calling for every member of Congress to hold a town hall.

“If your local legislator refuses to come for whatever reason, simply invite their opponent,” Hogg told us. “It’s as simple as that.”

The students-turned-activists have set up a website, thetownhallproject.com, to organize the effort.

That electoral activism is where it’s really going to make a difference, according to Lois Beckett, a reporter for The Guardian who covers gun policy.In 1999, the Million Mom March brought hundreds of thousands of people to Washington, but didn’t make a difference in the elections.

“What really matters is what happens in the 2018 midterms,” Beckett said. “If pro-gun lawmakers are voted out because of the actions of students then this march will have made a big difference.”

Guests:

David Hogg, survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. ( @davidhogg111)

Lois Beckett, reporter at The Guardian covering guns. ( @loisbeckett)

From The Reading List:

The Guardian: March for Our Lives: hundreds of thousands demand end to gun violence – as it happened — “Eleven-year-old Christopher Underwood, who lost his brother age five to a shooting, said: ‘I would like to not worry about dying. But worry about math and play basketball with my friends.'”

CNN: Student marchers call Washington’s inaction on gun violence unacceptable — “Survivors of the deadly shooting rampage at a Parkland, Florida, high school led hundreds of thousands Saturday in March for Our Lives events across the country, delivering a resounding message that Washington’s inaction on the scourge of gun violence is no longer acceptable.”