Organizing through a Facebook page that boasts a little over 11,000 members, The Freedom Rights group has already orchestrated a number of marches.
This Saturday, July 14, thousands of students will be marching in 13 cities to protect their gun rights in an event that promises to be the largest in the group’s four-month history.
Lacking the media coverage that the March for Our Lives received, the grass roots movement has used social media to spread their message using the hash tag #FreedomRights. They can also be found at their website.
“The reason why our movement was founded was due to a negative reaction we had directly with the media in the wake of the Parkland shooting and March for our Lives… There was no publicity assisting us,” 19-year-old National Director Xena Amirani and USC student told Newsweek in an interview.
A number of presenters are slated to speak at the event, including Black Guns Matter Founder Maj Toure. His mission statement, as posted on his Facebook page, states, “Black Guns Matter educates people in urban communities on their 2nd amendment rights and responsibilities through firearms training and education.”
He has been trying to eliminate gun violence in inner cities through his tutelage, which includes de-escalation techniques.
“The stigma, especially in an urban environment like Philly, is if you have a gun, you’re either law enforcement or the bad guy,” Toure said of his hometown in an interview with philly.com in 2016.
“What we’re trying to do is say that just because you have a gun doesn’t make you the bad guy. But while you have your firearm, which you have the right to have, you have to be a responsible, card-carrying good guy.”