Students: March for Our Lives rallies to build momentum for midterms

Student organizers of the March for Our Lives rallies said Sunday they would build on momentum from this weekend’s protests for gun control to organize young people to vote in November’s midterm elections.

“This is not the end. It’s just the beginning,” said Emma Gonzalez, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student, on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“Moving forward, it’s all about registering to vote and educating others,” said Cameron Kasky, another student at the high school.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Kasky and fellow student Delaney Tarr said the demonstrations in Washington, D.C., across the country and abroad showed youth were committed to tackling the issue of gun violence.

“I think the fact that young people everywhere are taking initiative, standing up and leading in their communities showed we learned our voices matter,” Kasky said.

Tarr said students involved in the anti-gun movement who are on the cusp of becoming old enough to vote are realizing the significance of their votes.

“If we can encourage these people to take action, to be participating in our society and in our politics, that’s going to continue to get voters to turn out,” Tarr said.

Kasky said measures backed by President Donald Trump included in the recent federal spending bill, including $2.5 billion for school safety programs and improvements to the federal background check system used for gun purchases, fell short of Trump’s initial call to raise the age to purchase a gun to 21.

“This does very little to keep the American people out of the line of fire,” said Kasky, who called for universal background checks, a complete ban on assault rifles and a ban on high-capacity magazines.

Kasky pushed back on statements made by the National Rifle Association casting the students’ activism as an effort to seize guns from Americans. He noted his father, a reserve officer, kept a concealed gun in their home, and said “a handgun to protect your home is an important thing if you need to,” but he argued “it can’t be that easy” to acquire military-style rifles.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said on “Face the Nation” that despite his vote against an assault weapons ban and cap on high-capacity magazines in the past, “this time it’s different.”

“It’s time to change our positions,” he said.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) defended her support for and from the NRA, though she noted that she can’t control outside groups’ independent campaigns run to support her candidacy.

Of the students, she said, “I appreciate the fact they have a right to protest and inform the government.” But, she added, “every citizen has a right to exercise their 2nd Amendment right.”

The NRA did not immediately return an email seeking comment, but on social media posts, the organization took aim at the student organizers behind Saturday’s demonstrations.

On Saturday, in a Facebook post, the gun lobbying group wrote that the protests weren’t “spontaneous.”

“Gun-hating billionaires and Hollywood elites are manipulating and exploiting children as part of their plan to DESTROY the Second Amendment and strip us of our right to defend ourselves and our loved ones,” the NRA said in the post.

A White House spokeswoman said Saturday, “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today.”

By David M. Schwartz

dschwar1@newsday.com,laura.figueroa@newsday.comschwartznewsNY,

David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.