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Movement

March For Our Lives

Website:

https://marchforourlives.com/
Location:

New York, New York
Type:

Gun Control Advocacy Movement

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March for Our Lives is a gun control advocacy network founded and fronted by survivors of the 2018 Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting. 1 The organization’s name derives from a March 24, 2018 rally in Washington, D.C. in support of gun restrictions. 2

While favoring bans on certain guns and ammunition, the group has expanded beyond gun control to include LGBT issues, opposition to voter ID, removing police from schools, and ending the war on drugs. 3 4

March for Our Lives is an umbrella for the movement with 300 chapters spanning across every state, as well as for the March for Our Lives Action Fund, an advocacy organization that engages in lobbying and electoral activity, and the March for Our Lives Foundation, an associated organization that promotes student activism and voter registration. 5 6

Background

March for Our Lives is a pro-gun control organization founded by survivors of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were murdered. 7 8

The student survivors initially called themselves #NeverAgain, and began to coordinate a march in Washington. 9 The organization’s name derives from the March 2018 event in the nation’s capital called “March for Our Lives.” 10

Everytown for Gun Safety helped to organize the event in Washington and other events around the United States. 11 Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and Steven Spielberg donated $500,000 each to fund the 2018 march in Washington. Organizers also raised more than $3 million in a GoFundMe campaign. 12

Among the 800 events across the world on the same day of the march in Washington, anti-gun marches were also held in New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; Boston; Miami; Las Vegas; San Francisco; Dallas; Birmingham, Alabama; West Palm Beach, Florida; Boise, Idaho; London and Liverpool, England; Madrid, Spain; Paris; Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea. 13 14

March for Our Lives is an umbrella for the movement with 300 chapters spanning across every state, as well as for the March for Our Lives Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) lobbying group, and the March for Our Lives Foundation, the 501(c)(3) arm that promotes student activism and voter registration. 15 16

March for Our Lives espouses the view that the underlying causes of cause gun violence are “gun glorification,” which it defines as the belief that power and safety are derived from guns; and “armed supremacy” to reinforce power structures such as white supremacy and patriarchy. 17

MFOL claims it was responsible for the 2023 creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which seeks to reduce gun violence. In 2024, former National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre was found liable of misspending organization funds while owing the NRA $4.4 million. 18 MFOL claims to have spurred the New York Attorney General to investigate after previously sending a letter alleging LaPierre’s illegal activity. 19

Gun Policy

March for Our Lives advocates for a national licensing and registry system for gun ownership, a ban on semi-automatic rifles in common use and their standard-capacity magazines, taking guns from gun owners with mental health issues, and a national gun “buy-back” program. 20

March for Our Lives has called for the Biden administration to put at least $1 billion in emergency and discretionary agency funding towards community violence intervention and for boosting data collection and research on gun violence prevention. The group also advocated that President Joe Biden establish two senior-level jobs in the White House staff: a national director of gun violence prevention and a director of youth engagement. 21

March for Our Lives further calls for the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the National Rifle Association, the leading gun rights organization. 22 In November 2018, March for Our Lives sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) accusing the NRA of violating its nonprofit status by enriching officers’ family members and friends. James launched a lawsuit against the NRA to investigate. March for Our Lives took credit in January 2021 when the NRA announced it would declare bankruptcy as part of a plan to leave New York state. 23

Other Policy Issues

While still primarily a gun control advocacy group, March for Our Lives has adopted other policy positions, including ending the war on drugs, stopping the “school-to-prison pipeline,” and “reduc[ing] the scope and size of policing to replace it with new forms of public safety.” The organization has claimed that the United States must “redefine what safety looks like” by addressing poverty, homelessness, food scarcity, and access to healthcare. 24

March for Our Lives says gun control is “a deeply intersectional issue, inextricably bound with our long journey for racial justice, economic justice, immigrant rights, and the rights of our LGBTQIA+ comrades.” 25

The group advocates for automatic voter registration, the prohibition of voter ID laws, and campaign finance reform. 26 In June 2021, March for Our Lives joined a coalition of left-progressive groups led by Fix Our Senate to call for the end to the Senate filibuster. Fix Our Senate is among the groups financed by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a project of Arabella Advisors. 27

In 2021, March for Our Lives began a campaign to remove police officers from schools. The “Peace Without Police: Schools Need Care Not Cops” campaign calls for the removal of school resource officers and reinvestment into counselors, mental health professionals, and after-school programs. 28

Leadership

Natalie Fall is the Executive Director of MFOL, assuming the position in 2023 after working at the Director of Development and Partnerships from 2019-2023. She previously worked as a Major Gift manager for Giffords, an organization focused on gun issues led by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She also worked at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence from 2014-2016. 30

References

  1. [1] March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  2. March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  3. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  4. Alemany, Jacqueline. “Power Up: March for Our Lives launches new campaign to defund police in schools.” Washington Post. June 30, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/30/power-up-march-our-lives-launches-new-campaign-defund-police-schools/
  5. March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  6. March for Our Lives. Cause IQ. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/march-for-our-lives-foundation,830885411/
  7. March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  8. Mission. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022.  https://marchforourlives.com/mission-story/
  9. Andone, Dakin. “What you should know about the March for Our Lives.” CNN. March 21, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/us/march-for-our-lives-explainer/index.html
  10. March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  11. Andone, Dakin. “What you should know about the March for Our Lives.” CNN. March 21, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/us/march-for-our-lives-explainer/index.html
  12. Andone, Dakin. “What you should know about the March for Our Lives.” CNN. March 21, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/us/march-for-our-lives-explainer/index.html
  13. Andone, Dakin. “What you should know about the March for Our Lives.” CNN. March 21, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/us/march-for-our-lives-explainer/index.html
  14. Gray, Sarah. “The March For Our Lives Protest Is This Saturday. Here’s Everything to Know.” Time. March 23, 2018. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://time.com/5167102/march-for-our-lives-parkland-school-shooting-protest/
  15. March for Our Lives. LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-for-our-lives/
  16. March for Our Lives. Cause IQ. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/march-for-our-lives-foundation,830885411/
  17. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  18. Offenhartz, Jake. “Former NRA Chief Wayne Lapierre Misspent Gun Rights Group’s Money and Owes More than $4m, Jury Finds.” AP News, February 24, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/nra-wayne-lapierre-trial-ruling-d4d9b950ee2cbd63380826eb2bf210e6.
  19. Lumbantobing, Noah. “Massive Blow to the NRA as Jury Finds Wayne Lapierre and Two Other Executives Guilty in Corruption Trial.” March For Our Lives, February 24, 2024. https://marchforourlives.org/massive-blow-to-the-nra-as-jury-finds-wayne-lapierre-and-two-other-executives-guilty-in-corruption-trial/.
  20. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  21. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  22. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  23.  Bakeman, Jessica. “March For Our Lives Celebrates NRA’s Bankruptcy: ‘We’ll Be Following Them Wherever They Go—Until They Don’t Exist.’” WLRN. January 25, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.wlrn.org/news/2021-01-25/march-for-our-lives-celebrates-nras-bankruptcy-well-be-following-them-wherever-they-go-until-they-dont-exist
  24. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  25. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  26. Policy. March for Our Lives. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://marchforourlives.com/policy/
  27. Schoffstall, Joe. “Liberal dark money-led coalition cranks up pressure on Manchin, Democrats to nuke filibuster.” Fox News. June 3, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-democrats-manchin-filibuster-liberal-dark-money
  28. Alemany, Jacqueline. “Power Up: March for Our Lives launches new campaign to defund police in schools.” Washington Post. June 30, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/30/power-up-march-our-lives-launches-new-campaign-defund-police-schools/
  30. “Natalie Fall.” LinkedIn, Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliefall?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F

    Zeenat Yahya has been the Director of Policy since January 2022, previously serving as the Deputy Policy director from 2021-2022. She has also worked as an Organizing Member for Everytown for Gun Safety from 2018-2021, and was a fellow at advocacy organization IGNITE National from 2017-2018. 29 “Zeenat Yahya .” LinkedIn. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeenatyahya

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