Breaking News: March for Our Lives was the beginning. Town halls are next. - News Paper

Organizers are pushing for lawmakers to host events on April 7.

March for Our Lives organizers will now try to confront politicians face to face. They’re calling it “Town Hall for Our Lives,” and pushing every single member of the House of Representatives to host a town hall on Saturday, April 7.

March organizers are partnering with the Town Hall Project, which helped rally progressives during the congressional fight over health care, to help activists organize.

Congress is on recess through April 8 (April 9 for the House), so some lawmakers already have town halls scheduled. March for Our Lives and the Town Hall Project is encouraging gun control activists to rally around those already established events — or pressure representatives without a town hall scheduled to host one next week.

Please rt this so we can get as many reps to speak with their constituents as possible on 4/7!!!! If you don't have one make it.

Let's do this https://t.co/O63HoIggkj

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 28, 2018

David Hogg, a Parkland survivor and one of the March for Our Lives organizers, said this goes for Republican and Democratic Congress members — they want all 435 representatives to participate. If not, primary and general elections opponents will be invited to attend in their places, or activists will consider holding an “empty chair town hall” to call attention to their absence.

“We’re not for Democrats or Republicans,” Hogg said. “We’re simply trying to save kids.”

Call your representatives. Invite them to a town hall. If they decline, invite their opponent. Make them listen or #VoteThemOut

— Alex Wind (@al3xw1nd) March 27, 2018

According to Hogg, more than 100 town halls have been scheduled. Hogg said he hopes activists hold politicians accountable for accepting money from the NRA and the gun lobby, though he encouraged all constituents to attend — not just advocates of gun control, but those who have opinions about school safety or mental health policy.

Dear @RepDevinNunes,

The students of March For Our Lives Fresno are hosting a town hall on April 7th to have an open dialogue about gun violence. We set a date when you're on break in the hopes that you might attend!

Best Wishes,
Future Voters pic.twitter.com/U1cfDW9zFG

— March For Our Lives Fresno (@MarchFresno) March 27, 2018

“I would just say everyone should come out and make their voices heard, regardless of what their opinions” are, Hogg said.

Another sign that this new gun control movement is gaining strength

More than a million Americans marched on Saturday, March 24. Thousands got up from their desks and walked out of classrooms on March 14. Another walkout is scheduled for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shootings.

The April 7 town hall push is a sign that teenage activists and their allies are escalating pressure on lawmakers ahead of the 2018 midterms. “Vote them out” was a common refrain at the March for Our Lives on Saturday, and calls for political change melded with those for gun control. The march revealed that voters are ready to hold politicians accountable; this town hall push is another early sign this movement is gaining political strength.

Large turnout at town halls around gun control could also signal a much larger shift: that voters are willing to go to the polls on this issue, which could force Congress to finally act.

Gun control measures, such as universal background checks, have strong bipartisan support. But the problem, as Vox’s German Lopez has written, is issue intensity — most voters don’t passionately cast ballots over gun control legislation. The march, followed by town halls and more demonstrations, could hint at a transformation in how voters are seeing the issue, one lawmakers will be paying attention to ahead of the 2018 midterms.

Town halls have effectively pressured lawmakers on other political debates — most notably the Affordable Care Act. Town halls became the staging ground for the Tea Party in 2009, and images of angry constituents furiously confronting lawmakers about “death panels” propelled a conservative backlash and GOP lawmakers to consider Obamacare toxic.

The same town hall activism worked in the reverse during the 2017 push to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This time, constituents faced down GOP lawmakers in support of Obamacare, helping to increase the law’s popularity and aid its survival of the repeal effort.

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Breaking News: March for Our Lives was the beginning. Town halls are next. - News Paper