Beginning at noon on March 24th, Texans families and friends in the Austin area marched from Austin city hall to the capitol grounds in a united protest in favor of stricter gun regulations. Matthew McConaughey even showed up.
Austin’s March for Our Lives march was just one of over 800 cities across the nation to partake in the nation-wide protest.
With over 7,100 people marking themselves as attendants of the march on Facebook, the attendance did not quite parallel the enormous turnout for the Women’s March in 2017, but it was impressive, nonetheless. A whopping estimated 15 to 20 thousand people participated in the march. The march drew so much attention that many out-of-towners across the state of Texas and across the country came to show their support for gun restrictions.
Surprising even more was the lack of united counter-protest from pro-gun advocates. While at the beginning of the march, a spare counter-protester could be spotted; generally, attendance at the march reflected a unified effort to demand strict gun legislation.
Many protesters blame the current lack of regulation on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and “bought” legislators.
Along the pathway heading up to the south steps of the capital building, a woman shouted out to the crows while gesturing at her handmade cardboard tombstone and grave, “Dancing on the grave of the NRA.” She invited marchers to dance on the cardboard in front of her.
“It’s time to amend the 2nd Amendment,” one sign read. Another claimed, “The only thing easier to buy than a gun is a GOP senator.” One sign quoted a 2016 NRA lobbying statistic at $29.5 million. However, even this number lowballs the NRA campaign and lobbying spending, since 2016 reports exceed $55 million.
Other signs depicted discontent with conservative propositions to arm teachers in classrooms. Signs reading, “My teacher needs a raise, not a pistol” and “Bullets are not school supplies” commonly were spread throughout the crowd.
Turning political discontent into real action was rampant amongst the crowd. Voter registration efforts were highly involved throughout the march, as several organizations participating in the rally offered voter registration and information.
The League of Women Voters, Moms Demand Action, Jolt, and the Travis County Tax office all encouraged eligible voters to register if they were not already, and reminded the crowd that run-off elections would occur in May.
With volunteer deputy registrars (VDRs) walking throughout the march, a consistent energy was propagated from the marchers and partisan and nonpartisan organizations alike. People were excited to see others caring about the policies that affected everyone, and an enthusiastic, desperate belief in democracy and the electoral system remained at the forefront of the march.
High school senior Conor Heffernan, one of the organizers of the Austin March for Our Lives told KVUE, “We want to register voters. We want everyone leaving feeling inspired. And then we want them to become activists on their own,” he said. “We want them to call their lawmakers so that they can … they can just bug them, ‘Why haven’t you supported this bill? Why haven’t you supported that bill?'”
While marching to the capital, the marchers loudly chanted, “Never again.” Protestors reflected the same hope as Heffernan. If legislators begin listening to their newly inspired and involved constituents, hopefully another school shooting will happen never again.
While the energy and activism from the marchers was evident, a similar consideration should be raised. While the crowd numbers make for excellent news coverage and television, the numbers rarely translate to long term action. Conservative legislators and Americans were quick to point out that for as many people who showed up to the march, there were just as many, if not more, Americans who did not support gun restrictions, viewing protests like March for Our Lives an assault on the 2nd Amendment. With state and local election runoffs occurring in May and the general election in November, marchers and gun-restrictions advocates must maintain and even increase activism energy and efforts.
An interpretation of the march is that supporters and organizers have 8 months to lose their activism. Short of calling, emailing, and visiting elected officials, legislators have little incentive to pass any long-term gun restriction legislation unless the threat of loosing their constituents’ support does not consistently loom. Thus, just as political commentators remarked about the Women’s March, the success of March for Our Lives is not portrayed in the turnout numbers for the protest, but in continued activism and turnout numbers at the polls. The most immediate effect the march might have had was polarizing more Americans by convincing them that gun restrictions is a single-voter issue. However, the long-term effects are yet to be seen.