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The student activistswho survivedlast year’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., have put forward a set of proposals to curb gun violence ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The plan also calls for a ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and “other weapons of war.”
“It’s simple,” the plan states. “Weapons of war that enable more casualties during mass shootings should not be allowed on our streets and in our communities. We’ve debated this for decades and it’s time to get it done.”
To this end, calls for the appointment of a National Director of Gun Violence Prevention, which will focus on educating Americans about the dangers of guns, suicide prevention and mental health, among other initiatives.
The plan also calls for the creation of the “Safety Corps,” based on the Peace Corps. People ages 16 to 25 would be eligible.
“Over the next 10 years, this new domestic program will put 10,000 young people per year to work on paid, one-year engagements in communities and non-profits around the country,” the plan states.
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“The more we participate in our civic process, the more effective we will be at reducing the impact of gun violence on the next generation,” the plan states.
Parkland survivors were active at the ballot box ahead of the 2018 midterms, when March for Our Lives went on amulti-state bus tourto register voters.
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“Our generation and the many generations that are helping us can change the game,” Parkland survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder Cameron Kasky said at the time. “We don’t have to surrender to dirty, awful politics. We can make it better. And the best way to do that is to vote.”
Another Parkland survivor, Tyah-Amoy Roberts, who is on the March for Our Lives board of directors,told The Washington Postthat the peace plan is “bold. It’s nothing like anyone else is proposing. We are really setting audacious goals.”
The announcement of the plan comes weeks after 31 people were killed in high-profile mass shootings inEl Paso, Texas, andDayton, Ohio. In the weeks after those attacks,police have made at least 27 arrestsover threats to commit mass shootings,reports CNN. While many of them may have been hoaxes and jokes,NBC News reportsthat police in at least four cities have thwarted credible potential attacks.
But he added, “I think that this plan is something that we can truly — as a country and as Americans united against violence and fighting for peace — can get behind.”
source: people.com
