Students Demand Action is a gun control advocacy group sponsored by Everytown For Gun Safety, a New-York based gun control lobbying group. 1 2 Students Demand Action has chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia made up of high school and college students as well as community members. 3 The group is known for organizing school walkouts supporting gun control. 4
Founding and History
Students Demand Action was founded in 2016 3 as a pilot project of Everytown For Gun Safety. 5 Everytown for Gun Safety sponsors two public pressure groups: Students Demand Action and Moms Demand Action. 2
Two weeks after the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Students Demand Action was formally launched as a national project to advocate for gun restrictions, elect pro-gun restriction elected officials, and register voters. 3
Students Demand Action is made up of local chapters and has claimed to have more than 600 groups with active volunteers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 3 In 2018, Everytown stated it had 33,000 student members in Students Demand Action. 5 That same year, Everytown announced a $1 million grant to Students Demand Action to spur the creation of more chapters. 5
Activities
Students Demand Action promotes gun control through public education efforts, public policy advocacy, and political organizing. 3
As part of its public education efforts, Students Demand Actions publicizes the stories of gun violence survivors while publishing statistics and information about gun violence in America on social media. 6
Students Demand Action supports candidates who favor gun restrictions, registers youth voters, and engages in phone banking and political canvassing. Students Demand Action claims to have registered 100,000 new voters. 6 In 2021, the group lobbied against pro-Second Amendment legislation in Indiana, Maryland, and Wyoming. 6 Beginning in 2022, Students Demand Action urged members to advocate for anti-gun school safety initiatives at school boards. 7 In 2023, the group called on Congress to reinstate a federal ban on common rifles referred to by gun control activists as “assault weapons.” 8
Students Demand Action works to promote youth mobilization, including by sponsoring student-led groups in high schools, colleges, and in local communities to promote gun control activism. 9 Students Demand Action also regularly hosts school walkouts to protest gun violence and call on lawmakers to pass firearm restrictions. 10
Policy Advocacy
Students Demand Action advocates for a series of laws to restrict firearm purchases and carrying rights. It advocates for sending mental health professionals to 911 calls instead of police officers, prohibiting teachers from carrying firearms at schools, and implementing “red flag” laws that reduce due-process protections in order to more quickly remove firearms from those accused of criminal activity or who are purportedly undergoing a mental health crisis. 11
People
Students Demand Action is managed by a 16-person national advisory board, all of whom are high school or college students. 12
References
- “Join Students Demand Action.” Students Demand Action. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://act.everytown.org/sign/join-students-demand-action/?source=etso_footer&refcode=etso_footer.
- “As Nation Reels from Recent Tragedy, Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Mark Beginning of Pride Month with a Renewed Call for Action on Gun Safety.” Moms Demand Action. June 1, 2022. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://momsdemandaction.org/as-nation-reels-from-recent-tragedy-everytown-moms-demand-action-students-demand-action-mark-beginning-of-pride-month-with-a-renewed-call-for-action-on-gun-safety/.
- “About.” Students Demand Action. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/about/.
- “‘Fed Up’ With Gun Violence, Students Demand Action Organizes More Than 300 Walkouts From Schools Around the Country to Demand Lawmaker Action.” Students Demand Action. April 5, 2023. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/press/fed-up-with-gun-violence-students-demand-action-organizes-more-than-300-walkouts-from-schools-around-the-country-to-demand-lawmaker-action/.
- “Everytown Continues to Support Student Organizers Following March for Our Lives.” Everytown for Gun Safety. March 26, 2018. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.everytown.org/press/everytown-continues-to-support-student-organizers-following-march-for-our-lives/.
- “Our Approach.” Students Demand Action. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/about/#our-approach.
- “Urge Your School Board to Act on School Safety.” Students Demand Action. January 26, 2022. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/report/urge-your-school-board-to-act-on-school-safety/.
- “Day of Action: Call on Congress to Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban.” Students Demand Action. March 13, 2023. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/report/day-of-action-congress-reinstate-assault-weapons-ban/
- “Day of Action: Call on Congress to Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban.” April 27, 2023. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/get-involved/.
- News.” Students Demand Action. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/news/.
- “Facts.” Students Demand Action. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/learn/.
- “Meet the Students Demand Action Advisory Board.” March 18, 2021. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://studentsdemandaction.org/meet-the-students-demand-action-advisory-board/.