Today, March For Our Lives delivered a set of policy demands urging the Biden-Harris administration to develop a national, comprehensive plan to end gun violence in America. 

Last week, we reflected on the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that sparked our movement three years ago. The gun violence still ravaging our communities today is unacceptable. In 2021, the U.S. recorded an all-time high of gun-related deaths -- even during a pandemic. That’s why we’re demanding that the new administration take action immediately.

Young people, especially young BIPOC folks, voted President Biden and Vice President Harris into office. Yet we’re the ones who have historically been shut out of policy making. So when we met with the Biden-Harris administration last week, we made it *very* clear that addressing our nation’s gun violence epidemic can’t wait.

You can read the full set of policy demands and endorse our plan here.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that because we’re young, we don’t know how the government works. But we did our work and our policy demands have some real teeth. Here are the highlights and the big things to know:

President Biden must appoint a Director of Gun Violence Prevention, a senior, cabinet-adjacent staffer who reports directly to the President. 

• The directive to address gun violence must be prioritized and operationalized from the very top of government. (How is this not a thing yet?)
• The Director must impanel a task force including agency and bureau heads, and empower federal agencies that have been weakened by the gun lobby.
• Any task force or committee chaired by the Director must dedicate at least 25% of its membership to youth and center BIPOC community leaders (those who are disproportionately impacted must be centered in our solutions).
• Additionally, the Director must ensure President Biden and Vice President Harris make good on their commitments to specific executive actions within their first 100 days.

Your budget tells your story!! To address a record level of gun violence, we need a record level of funding. 

• That’s why Biden must declare gun violence a national public health emergency, with the short-term goal of unlocking at least $1 billion in funding under the Stafford Act.
• Utilize discretionary agency grant funding and earmark additional funding for states to go towards evidence-based and effective community programming.
• Peg funding for federal firearm injury research to the firearm mortality burden, to ensure a minimum $37 million increase in annual funding focused on children and adolescents, where firearm injuries are currently the second-leading cause of death.
• Ensure that President Biden’s budget restores funding for student safety and school-based programs.
• Broaden the reach of the NIH and CDC research to include a national, large-scale survey of public health, including firearms questions related to ownership and violence, and additionally instruct agencies to track law enforcement violence and police interactions to better understand the scope and nature of disparities.

For YEARS, Congress has failed to pass substantial changes to our nation’s gun laws and thousands of people have died because of it. These policy demands will save lives -- and that’s why we’re pushing for them. But we need your help -- will you show people in power that you support a national plan to curb gun violence in the First 100 Days?

We believe in a future without community violence, suicides by firearm, or mass shootings. This work is personal for me as I know it is for so many of you that have lost a loved one due to gun violence. But I know that a better world is possible -- though it will take all of our voices coming together to demand change. We’re so thankful for your support. 

Let’s go change the world together,
Daud Mumin
Board Member 
March For Our Lives