Hogg and Company Begin Nationwide Tour in an Attempt To Expose NRA Contributions, Register Voters
Student survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Floria are launching a national bus tour later this month to register younger voters and highlight candidates and office holders who are recipients of National Rifle Association donations.
Buzzfeed News reports the “March for Our Lives: Road to Change” tour begins June 15 and will make 50 stops in 20 states.
Recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduates David Hogg and Emma González, along with current student Jaclyn Corin, will all be participating in the tour.
The three were among the most visible students speaking out against the NRA and calling for greater gun control measures following the Feb. 14 shooting at their school, which left 17 dead and 17 others wounded.
Hogg told Buzzfeed that he’s hoping to increase youth voter turnout by at least 50 percent in November.
“Just a handshake or looking somebody in the eye, rather than speaking to them through the TV, is a lot more impactful,” he said.
González said the goal of the tour is to help remove NRA-backed politicians from office.
“We would see the outcome in the polls and we would see a lot of the NRA-backed politicians out of office and a lot of younger people who ran for office, in office,” she said. “That would be the goal for us, especially after this summer and in the years going forward.”
Corin concurred, saying, “This tour is about exposing people who take money from the NRA and registering people to vote — those are the two main things we’re trying to push with this.”
On Monday, Hogg called on Florida Gov. Rick Scott to pledge to accept no campaign money from and “break all ties” with the NRA if he truly wanted to “serve the public.” Scott is a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Sunshine State.
A great graduation present would be for you to sign the #NoNRAMoney pledge and also break all ties with the private prison industry so if you continue to be a public servant you actually serve the public. https://t.co/fLbCNXcGXA
— David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) June 4, 2018
March for Our Lives held an event in Washington, D.C. and other locations around the country in the spring, a little more than a month after the Parkland shooting.
Buzzfeed News reported at the time that liberal groups — including Everytown For Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood and the Women’s March LA — were helping students organize the effort.
Among changes Hogg and González have called for are an assault weapons ban and the instituting of universal background checks, both of which have been opposed by the NRA.
All firearms dealers must conduct a background check using the National Criminal Background Check System; however, in most states, private individuals do not have to perform a background check to sell or gift weapons to each other.
Following the Parkland shooting, former congressman and current radio talk show host Joe Walsh tweeted that targeting the NRA over the issue of mass shootings misses the mark.
No known @NRA members have ever committed a mass shooting, yet after every mass shooting Democrats immediately blame the NRA and its members for the shooting.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 15, 2018
“No known @NRA members have ever committed a mass shooting, yet after every mass shooting Democrats immediately blame the NRA and its members for the shooting,” Walsh said.
On Friday, the NRA touted itself as “the world’s leading gun safety organization,” joining in the #wearorange National Gun Violence Awareness Day campaign, which Hogg also commended.
🔶 NRA SOCIAL GOING ORANGE: While Everytown for Gun Safety has devoted close to no resources to making citizens safer, the NRA continues to be the world's leading gun safety organization since 1871. 📸 Send us pics in your orange hunting and NRA gear to be featured. #wearorange pic.twitter.com/16cE7srlZo
— NRA (@NRA) June 1, 2018
The NRA tweeted, “While Everytown for Gun Safety has devoted close to no resources to making citizens safer, the NRA continues to be the world’s leading gun safety organization since 1871.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
