High school students in Wisconsin are marching to U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan's hometown to demand gun safety laws. (Photo: March For Our Lives: 50 Mile More/Twitter)
Students March #50MilesMore to Deliver Gun Reform Demands to Paul Ryan's Doorstep
"If the politicians won't listen to us, if the politicians won't make the change, then come November, we are prepared to change the politicians," declared one march organizer
Wisconsin high school students are marching 50 miles over four days from the state capital to the hometown of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan to demand gun safety legislation as part of the student-led movement that has followed the massacre of 17 people in Parkland, Florida last month.
The 50 Miles More march, which entered its second day on Monday, is a continuation of this weekend's worldwide March For Our Lives. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters descended on Washington, D.C., with sister marches held across the globe.
"We're picking up where so many marches left off," Katie Eder, an 18-year-old organizer of 50 Miles More, told the Washington Post. Eder addressed a crowd at Milwaukee's March For Our Lives, as more than 40 students prepared to spend their spring break marching from Madison to Janesville, Wisconsin.
"We're trying to change the laws. We're trying to change the country. The beach can wait," Eder declared. "And if the politicians won't listen to us, if the politicians won't make the change, then come November, we are prepared to change the politicians."
The organizers--who drew inspiration from the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.--launched a website featuring march information, a mission statement, and a clear list of policy demands:
- Military-style weapons, and all weapons of war, should be banned from civilian society.
- All accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons, such as bump stocks, should be banned.
- Four-day waiting period on all gun purchases.
- Require background checks on all gun sales.
- Raise the legal purchasing age of all guns to 21.
However, Ryan, the House's top Republican and the representative for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, has said that his party has no interest in passing laws that restrict the types of weapons that Americans can buy, despite the mounting death toll that resulted from mass shootings executed with AR-15 style rifles. Rather than returning home for Congress's recess, Ryan visited the Czech Republic on Monday.
The students marching in Wisconsin are posting updates on social media with the hashtags #NotOneMore, #50MORE, #MarchForOurLives, and #MarchToPaulsHouse.
As the marchers reach each mile marker, their official Twitter account is sharing short stories in honor of people who have been killed because of gun violence.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Wisconsin high school students are marching 50 miles over four days from the state capital to the hometown of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan to demand gun safety legislation as part of the student-led movement that has followed the massacre of 17 people in Parkland, Florida last month.
The 50 Miles More march, which entered its second day on Monday, is a continuation of this weekend's worldwide March For Our Lives. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters descended on Washington, D.C., with sister marches held across the globe.
"We're picking up where so many marches left off," Katie Eder, an 18-year-old organizer of 50 Miles More, told the Washington Post. Eder addressed a crowd at Milwaukee's March For Our Lives, as more than 40 students prepared to spend their spring break marching from Madison to Janesville, Wisconsin.
"We're trying to change the laws. We're trying to change the country. The beach can wait," Eder declared. "And if the politicians won't listen to us, if the politicians won't make the change, then come November, we are prepared to change the politicians."
The organizers--who drew inspiration from the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.--launched a website featuring march information, a mission statement, and a clear list of policy demands:
- Military-style weapons, and all weapons of war, should be banned from civilian society.
- All accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons, such as bump stocks, should be banned.
- Four-day waiting period on all gun purchases.
- Require background checks on all gun sales.
- Raise the legal purchasing age of all guns to 21.
However, Ryan, the House's top Republican and the representative for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, has said that his party has no interest in passing laws that restrict the types of weapons that Americans can buy, despite the mounting death toll that resulted from mass shootings executed with AR-15 style rifles. Rather than returning home for Congress's recess, Ryan visited the Czech Republic on Monday.
The students marching in Wisconsin are posting updates on social media with the hashtags #NotOneMore, #50MORE, #MarchForOurLives, and #MarchToPaulsHouse.
As the marchers reach each mile marker, their official Twitter account is sharing short stories in honor of people who have been killed because of gun violence.
Wisconsin high school students are marching 50 miles over four days from the state capital to the hometown of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan to demand gun safety legislation as part of the student-led movement that has followed the massacre of 17 people in Parkland, Florida last month.
The 50 Miles More march, which entered its second day on Monday, is a continuation of this weekend's worldwide March For Our Lives. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters descended on Washington, D.C., with sister marches held across the globe.
"We're picking up where so many marches left off," Katie Eder, an 18-year-old organizer of 50 Miles More, told the Washington Post. Eder addressed a crowd at Milwaukee's March For Our Lives, as more than 40 students prepared to spend their spring break marching from Madison to Janesville, Wisconsin.
"We're trying to change the laws. We're trying to change the country. The beach can wait," Eder declared. "And if the politicians won't listen to us, if the politicians won't make the change, then come November, we are prepared to change the politicians."
The organizers--who drew inspiration from the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.--launched a website featuring march information, a mission statement, and a clear list of policy demands:
- Military-style weapons, and all weapons of war, should be banned from civilian society.
- All accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons, such as bump stocks, should be banned.
- Four-day waiting period on all gun purchases.
- Require background checks on all gun sales.
- Raise the legal purchasing age of all guns to 21.
However, Ryan, the House's top Republican and the representative for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, has said that his party has no interest in passing laws that restrict the types of weapons that Americans can buy, despite the mounting death toll that resulted from mass shootings executed with AR-15 style rifles. Rather than returning home for Congress's recess, Ryan visited the Czech Republic on Monday.
The students marching in Wisconsin are posting updates on social media with the hashtags #NotOneMore, #50MORE, #MarchForOurLives, and #MarchToPaulsHouse.
As the marchers reach each mile marker, their official Twitter account is sharing short stories in honor of people who have been killed because of gun violence.