March for Our Lives and NextGen America Respond to President Biden’s New Actions to Reduce Gun Violence

Leading youth vote orgs respond to historic presidential action to reduce gun violence

Austin, TX — Today, President Biden announced an Executive Order with the goal of increasing the number of background checks conducted before firearm sales. This action moves the United States as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation. In response to this significant action, leading youth voice organizations March for Our Lives and NextGen America release the following statements.

NextGen America President, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez:

“Young Americans overwhelmingly support expanded background checks and have voted in record-breaking numbers during the past three elections to address the gun violence crisis in America. Today, President Biden is taking additional and historic action to tackle this crisis, and we are proud to support this executive order that addresses the policy failure that is gun violence.

“Firearms are the number one cause of death for children in the United States, and it is undoubtedly clear that the President’s actions today will save lives. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their classrooms, workplaces, and neighborhoods, and today’s action will help create this future. Gun violence is preventable, and we applaud President Biden for taking immediate action and addressing the calls of millions of young people across the country.

“Now, we call on Congress to act and pass universal background checks and an assault weapon ban through legislative action. Today is a huge step forward in our fight, but we need to finish the job and get this done.”

March for Our Lives Co-Founder, David Hogg:

“I’m pleased to see the President respond directly to youth activists’ call for urgent action on gun safety. Last year, March For Our Lives’ activists called on the President to use his executive authority to direct his Cabinet to address gun safety, and to urge the FTC to investigate the way the gun industry preys on young people. We’re glad to see him do so today.

“In poll after poll, gun safety is a winning issue in elections. Americans and young people don’t care about excuses, we care about results. Wielding his wide ranging Presidential powers are an important way the President can cut through congressional gridlock and demonstrate action on gun safety. It’s the morally right thing to do, and it will win the youth vote in 2024.”

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About NextGen America
NextGen America is the leading national organization for engaging young people through voter education, registration and mobilization. We invite 18-to-35 year olds — the largest and most diverse generation in American history — into our democracy to ensure our government works for them and to find new solutions to the dire challenges facing our society and the world. Since 2013, NextGen America has registered more than 1.5 million young voters and contacted 9.6 million young eligible voters during the historic 2022 midterm elections.

About March For Our Lives
March For Our Lives is a national youth-led movement to end gun violence in America. Its mission is to harness the power of young people across the country to fight for sensible gun violence prevention policies that save lives. Since March 2018, students from all across the United States have called for common-sense reforms that will save the lives of more than 3,000 young people each year, including implementing universal, comprehensive background checks; creating a searchable database for gun owners; investing in violence intervention programs, specifically in disenfranchised communities; funding the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence so that reform policies are backed up by data, and banning high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic assault rifles. Concurrently, March For Our Lives has established nearly 300 youth-led chapters across the country, continuously growing this chapter network to give young people a local forum to exercise their activism. For more information, visit www.marchforourlives.com.