On March 24, 2018, the youth of America spoke out and marched for their lives. It is the responsibility of lawmakers to listen to them, to support them, and to take action.

I want gun use to be limited

Common sense gun control. Ban war weapons.

I'm a student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. In April I marched with tens of thousands of students in our nation's capital and hundreds of thousands across the country. This fall, I will vote (for the first time). After the tragedies in Santa Fe and Parkland, students like me are fighting for our lives, demanding that politicians reject the NRA, and calling for common-sense gun reforms. I am calling on all eligible voters to help spread our movement to the ballot box.  During just the 2016 election cycle, the NRA spent $54 million in the presidential and congressional races. We must put an end to the NRA's grip on Congress. Please consider joining my pledge not to vote for any candidate who receives support from the NRA or the gun manufacturing lobby.

As Connecticut residents, we have seen the aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where 20 children and 6 educators were killed in 2012. Families and communities can no longer be torn apart due to careless acts of violence carried out with weapons that are not regulated properly. We demand legislation be passed that the vast majority of Americans want, not just legislation that aligns with special interest groups. Currently, it is perfectly legal to go online and buy most of an unassembled gun, without a serial number and without any registration requirements. Only a modicum of skill is needed to put it all together. Firearms made from these DIY kits are known as ghost guns because they contain no serial numbers, are untraceable and require no background check to purchase. But these firearms are no playthings. Homemade assault weapons have been used in mass shootings and attacks on law enforcement around the country. Even in Connecticut, which passed some of the nation’s toughest gun laws in the wake of Sandy Hook, anyone could get a ready-to-assemble gun by mail within a matter of days. The passage of House Bill No. 5540 would regulate these guns and help reduce that number of unregistered, untraceable firearms, which are attractive to people prohibited from possessing firearms and for selling on the black market, destined to be crime guns. Not only does the gun itself and how it is acquired need to be more closely regulated, it also should not be possible to modify a semi-automatic weapon to where it fires at an alarmingly close rate to an automatic weapon. A bump stock is one of these modifications, which harnesses the weapon’s recoil and causes the weapon’s trigger to be engaged many times faster than the average human could otherwise fire. Bump stocks allow assault weapons to operate as machine guns. The Las Vegas shooter used bump stocks to fire more than 1,100 rounds in just 10 minutes, killing 58 and injuring more than 500 concertgoers on October 1, 2017, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Machine guns are tightly regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act that has effectively prevented their use in criminal activity and mass shootings, so why it is possible to modify a gun to almost the exact capabilities? The passage of House Bill No. 5542, would ban bump stocks, binary trigger systems and trigger cranks, all of which increase a gun’s rate of fire. With that being said, we call upon Governor Malloy, the State House, and the State Senate to pass the legislation, H.B. No. 5542 and H.B. No. 5540, banning the sales of bump stocks and regulating ghost guns. It is imperative that we pass these measures to protect our citizens. Not only do most people support them, but experts believe that they are important steps to take in the fight against gun violence. Now it is time for the Connecticut leadership to affirm, as the public already has, that the life of a child or innocent civilian is more important than someone’s semi-automatic rifle.

Students have had #ENOUGH! We are demanding action!

My neighbor was the Sandy Hook shooter. Just Imagine if he used bump stocks on his AR-15 on that tragic day on December 14, 2012 when he murdered 20 children and six educators. The Las Vegas shooter used bump stocks to convert his semiautomatic rifles to function as automatic weapons to murder 58 people and wound 500 others. The Las Vegas shooting was the deadliest in modern U.S. history. Ghost guns are untraceable homemade guns. In November, a Northern California man, who was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a restraining order, killed five people in a rampage using semiautomatic rifles that he made himself. In 2016, a Baltimore man fired at police with a homemade AR-15. In 2013, a Santa Monica shooter used a ghost gun in his shooting spree that killed five. Ghost guns appeal to those who cannot legally purchase firearms. Until Congress bans bump stocks and ghost guns, Connecticut lawmakers must act now to protect their constituents.

More guns in our schools won't make them safer--especially for Black children who are already criminalized and violated inside and outside of schools. At a young age, Black students are already heavily policed by the presence of police officers in the school buildings, metal detectors, and a system of punitive discipline that funnels them through the school-prison pipeline. Imagine what could happen when the same teacher that disproportionately punishes Black children for their behavior is armed with a gun. That reality is too much to bear. This ridiculous and dangerous response is sadly not new. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, resulting in the death of 20 children and six adults, the NRA introduced a new strategy to exploit school shootings to benefit the gun industry by driving up gun sales. According to NCES statistics, Trump's plan would require arming up to 700,000 more people in schools with guns. This terrible idea has nothing to do with safety, it's about making money--and exploiting of the families who've lost their loved ones in tragedy. Bills are popping up in state legislatures already to approve measures that would arm teachers. That's why we all must stand together and show these lawmakers, and Trump, that we will not allow gun companies get rich while putting our children in danger. Sign the petition?

More guns in our schools won't make them safer--especially for Black children who are already criminalized and violated inside and outside of schools. At a young age, Black students are already heavily policed by the presence of police officers in the school buildings, metal detectors, and a system of punitive discipline that funnels them through the school-prison pipeline. Imagine what could happen when the same teacher that disproportionately punishes Black children for their behavior is armed with a gun. That reality is too much to bear. This ridiculous and dangerous response is sadly not new. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, resulting in the death of 20 children and six adults, the NRA introduced a new strategy to exploit school shootings to benefit the gun industry by driving up gun sales. According to NCES statistics, Trump's plan would require arming up to 700,000 more people in schools with guns. This terrible idea has nothing to do with safety, it's about making money--and exploiting of the families who've lost their loved ones in tragedy. Bills are popping up in state legislatures already to approve measures that would arm teachers. That's why we all must stand together and show these lawmakers, and Trump, that we will not allow gun companies get rich while putting our children in danger. Sign the petition?

We simply cannot stand for anyone with such vile, ignorant views to represent the people of Maine in any capacity.

The NRA is using money to ensure that no common sense gun laws are put in place in our country. This is all out of greed, obviously, they want less gun laws so they can sell more guns. In our current state, we HAVE to put new policies in place NOW & the NRA is in our way.

As high school students, the frequency of mass shootings specifically in schools is truly terrifying. The Mount Abraham Student Activism club wants to put an end to gun violence in America and bring safety back to schools.