February 20, 2024
The #NeverAgain Movement Six Years Later
By Finn Cooley
After a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., on February 14, 2018, hundreds of thousands of young people pushed for stronger gun control measures. How has their advocacy changed since?
ZACHARIAH SIPPY and MARIE-ROSE SHEINERMAN
(Sarah Morris / Getty)
Just weeks after surviving a mass shooting at their high school on February 14, 2018, Jaclyn Corin and David Hogg became part of a group of Parkland, Fla., students who helped galvanize a mass movement. Using the slogan #NeverAgain, the students inspired hundreds of thousands of young people to push for stronger gun control and safety measures.
A major milestone for the movement was the bipartisan federal Safer Communities Act of 2022, the first federal gun control law passed since 1994, which expanded funding for mental health resources, extended background checks to gun buyers under the age of 21, created new protections for domestic violence victims, cracked down on illegal gun purchases, among other measures. The act also incentivized states to establish red-flag laws, which enable courts to take firearms away from those deemed to present a danger to themselves or others. Such laws now exist in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
Six years after the tragedy, many of these activists have shifted their thinking, strategy, and priorities. “We genuinely believed that we could prevent a shooting from ever happening again, because we were naïve,” Corin, now 23, told The Nation. “Now I understand that ‘Never Again’ is not realistic. And on one hand, that’s very devastating. But on the other hand, I think having a realistic perspective on the issue actually helps you maintain motivation.”
