“The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is inspired by the activism of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and across the country. Parkland, Florida now sadly shares a bond forged in horror with the many other communities around our nation grievously wounded by gun violence. 

“Youth-led political action is raising the profile of gun violence and the need for gun safety and violence prevention legislation in a much-needed way. We humbly follow their lead, and march alongside them today as supporters of the March for Our Lives as well as the two National Student Walk Outs — on March 14, one month after the shooting in Florida and on April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine shooting.  

“These students understand what lawmakers have failed to recognize: gun violence is preventable and doing nothing is unacceptable and irresponsible. How many more students need to die at school? How many more people need to die at church, at the movies, or simply for living their lives? Today, NCJW joins the students from Parkland as well as concerned citizens across the United States to tell Congress that it’s well past time for action. We march to tell Congress to fund the Centers for Disease Control to study gun violence; require a criminal background check for all gun sales; ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; make gun trafficking a federal crime; and eliminate loopholes that allow convicted stalkers and domestic abusers access to guns. These common-sense proposals would close deadly gaps in our gun laws and ensure law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to detect and deter gun trafficking.   

“We will not stop marching and speaking out until Congress addresses these and other gun violence prevention measures in a meaningful way.”