Social Media becomes the platform for change

The hashtag “NeverAgain” is flooding popular social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook as a way for people to share their hopes and desires that mass shootings will soon become a thing of the past. The hashtag was created to inspire those who seek to stop gun violence in schools.

#NeverAgain never again will this happen in Parkland. Never again will it happen anywhere. Never again. Join the movement. Be the movement.

— #NeverAgain (@NeverAgainMSD) February 16, 2018

In addition to #NeverAgain, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High are talking to media to ensure their voice will be heard throughout the country. In the midst of grieving for her classmates, Emma González, a senior at MSD, spoke to a crowd about stricter mental health background checks and laws that she believes need to change in return for better gun control. González continued by sharing her disbelief in the idea that giving people more guns will solve the problem: “They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence, we call BS! They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun, we call BS! They say that no laws would have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred, we call BS!”

The desire for change left after the shootings has even begun to alter some people’s stance on owning a gun. Many people who legally own guns believe in their Second Amendment rights to own a gun, are taking up the challenge offered by the #oneless movement. After recent mass shootings, gun owners like Scott Pappalardo have begun weighing their options when thinking about owning a gun. Pappalardo enjoys shooting at targets but believes that other people’s safety is more important than his personal entertainment. Pappalardo destroyed his AK15 to show his support for other’s safety and stricter gun control laws, and to ensure that his gun could never be sold and used to hurt a human being.

National walkouts are planned for people who wish to see stricter gun control, but are not able to show their support in ways like González and Pappalardo have. Women’s March has organized the #Enough walkout, encouraging participants to walk out of school for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. on Mar. 14 to show respect for the lives that were lost during the Florida shooting. “March For Our Lives” is a protest in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 24 to challenge current gun control laws. The Network for Public Education has planned another school walkout to take place on Apr. 20 to protest gun violence that has taken place in schools since Columbine in 2010.