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18 Students Demand Action volunteers pose for a low-angle photo. All are wearing red Students Demand Action t-shirts, pants, and jackets or long-sleeve layers. Behind the students, an
Students Demand Action

Students Demand Action 2024: Gun Safety Wrapped

In 2024, Students Demand Action volunteers reminded the gun safety movement that we are not the future—we are the now.

This year, we grew to more than 850 groups across the country, and those groups truly brought the action. Our students:

As we close out 2024, we’re grateful for students like you who shared your stories, time, and energy with us. We’re stronger because of you! Keep reading to see what else we’re celebrating from 2024, where we’re going in 2025, and how you can join the fight to end gun violence. 

Industry Accountability

The gun industry has a perverse interest in perpetuating gun violence—it rakes in $9 billion each year while we pay the price with our lives. Despite fueling a public health crisis that is the leading cause of death for our generation, the gun industry continues to fly under the radar and skirt accountability for the harm, death, and trauma its products cause.

We are not good with that—and we’re working to change that reality.

In January, in partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, Students Demand Action organized a divestment week of action across university campuses to call out colleges for fueling the gun industry’s financial empire through their investments.

Three Students Demand Action volunteers table during divestment week of action. Each of the three people are holding signs. From left to right, they read: "Guns are the #1 killer of American youth"; "UC Divest From Gun Stocks"; "Divest from the gun industry. #KillerBusiness." On the front of the table, two large banners hang side-by-side; one is white with the Students Demand Action logo printed in large text. The other is navy and reads "Aggies, we can end gun violence."

While students were spreading the word on college campuses, others were crashing the gun industry’s annual party in Las Vegas. On the first day of SHOT Show, students and survivors shared their stories at a rally exposing the gun industry’s role in our gun violence crisis.

Then, students took to the streets to remind the gun industry that their deadly products are the number one killer of our generation—and we’re not going to let them keep skirting accountability.

Three Students Demand Action volunteers stand in front of a billboard that reads "As the gun industry parties, kids are dying." They each hold signs. From left to right, the signs read: "Students Demand Action"; "Guns are the #1 killer of kids and teens in America"; "Text STUDENTS to 644-33."

Just days after the 2024 election, Students Demand Action and the Everytown Support Fund launched a new campaign calling out gun industry leaders for prioritizing their profits over our safety. Using dark humor, gun industry caricatures, and ripped-from-the-headlines themes, our campaign presents young people with an urgent message: The gun industry is selling your safety. Are You Good With That?

Four Students Demand Action volunteers hang posters in Portland, Oregon, during an in-person activation for the "Are You Good With That" industry accountability campaign. The posters are red and have black lettering at the top that says "Guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens." in white text beneath the black text, it says "Are you good with that?"
Students from two high schools gathered for an activation at the Are You Good With That? billboard in Portland, Oregon.
Six Students Demand Action volunteers walk down the street in Portland, Oregon, during an in-person activation for the Are You Good With That? campaign. They all are wearing red Students Demand Action t-shirts and are in-motion walking toward the camera.
Students from two high schools gathered for an activation at the Are You Good With That? billboard in Portland, Oregon.

Investing in Communities

In May, Students Demand Action partnered with the What I Wish I Knew Foundation (WIWIK) to bring violence interruption strategies to five high schools in the Philadelphia area. The “Don’t Get Tricked Out Ya Spot” Conflict Resolution Tour had one mission: To teach students critical conflict resolution skills to reduce violence in their lives and city.

Manny, a Black man in his mid-20s, stands in the center of a brown stage in front of a projected slide that reads "Don't Get Tricked Out Ya Spot" Conflict Resolution Tour. Manny is raising his left hand and holding a mic to his mouth with his right. The photo is taken from a raised balcony; the backs of students attending the tour are visible in the photo.
Manny from WIWIK presents at the “Don’t Get Tricked Out Ya Spot” Conflict Resolution Tour


Students Demand Action also partnered with StaySolid Youth Mental Health to bring the “Motivating OUR Future Summit” to four schools in Maryland.  The tour was designed to encourage students in communities disproportionately impacted by gun violence to set goals, work hard in school, and reduce conflicts by delivering powerful messages on conflict resolution, accountability, and achieving goals.

A group of students pose in front of a sign in the White Sox stadium that says "Chicago." They are all wearing red or cream-colored Students Demand Action t-shirts.

This summer, we hosted our sixth Summer Leadership Academy (SLA), this time in Chicago. The SLA organizing team tailored the curriculum to focus on subjects impacting the local community. They also brought in partner organizations so students could hear firsthand experiences of the challenges—and strengths—in the Southwest Chicago community.

Throughout the week, participants developed impact proposals for action projects. Action projects educate and/or activate their peers and community about gun violence prevention. Participants use these projects to return their SLA learnings to their communities. 

A basketball court partway through the process of being renovated. The photo is taken at an angle from one corner; the court is light blue with bright red accents under the hoops; the border of the court is black. What appears to be a school building is visible in the background.

Coming out of a 2023 SLA action project proposal, students attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a renovated basketball court in North Lawndale, Chicago. Students and community members had identified the court and surrounding neighborhood park as a vital community gathering space.

“It’s not every day that we get to acutely feel the effects of our work in the gun violence prevention movement, so this is much more than renovating a basketball court. It’s a testament of our community’s commitment to reducing gun violence and creating a safe environment where young people can thrive.” 

—Justin Funez, an SDA National Organizing Board Member from Chicago and one of the students who came up with the idea to renovate the court.

SDA partnered with Chicago Cares and UCAN to complete the basketball court renovation. Thanks to funding from the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a program of the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, and the Vitalogy Foundation, these organizations restored the court, which was underutilized because of its poor condition. This project engaged young people in creating a safe space for students, local youth, and community members to play outside. 

HBCU Outreach

Student leaders at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have demonstrated their leadership by leading election actions, engaging over 10,000 voters, and bringing new students into the gun violence prevention movement.

Three Black students wearing white Students Demand Action t-shirts with red block lettering post for a photo in front of a QR code to register to vote while tabling on their campus plaza. A white woman in a red t-shirt and dark sunglasses is visible in the background on the far right of the photo.
A group of Black students walk toward the polls, holding navy and white signs that say "JSU Rocks Thee Vote." In the center of the photo, a Black student wearing a navy blue suit holds a red Students Demand Action sign and smiles at the camera.

Jackson State University students organized phone banks and Jackson State’s tradition “Stroll to the Polls” on Election Day. At Florida A&M University, students led transformational initiatives, including two dorm storms where students knocked on more than 600 doors, a text banking party the night before Election Day, and a Gun Sense Candidate information session in partnership with Kappa Alpha Psi.

We even hit the road and visited HBCU campuses this year. We met over 40 students and even started a new Students Demand Action group at North Carolina A&T University.

Fresh Look, Same Fight

Students Demand Action started as a pilot program in 2016 under Everytown for Gun Safety. But within two weeks of the horrific 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, we launched our national program.

Over the last six years, we’ve grown from zero volunteers to more than 850 Students Demand Action groups. This year, we launched our new brand identity in recognition of the energy and breadth of our movement. Our Creative Team held extensive interviews and branding exercises with current and former staff and student volunteers to help support the redesign and our movement’s expansion.

The Students Demand Action brand is heavily influenced by the rich history of grassroots activism in the United States. Bold and strong—yet nuanced and humanistic—our headline typeface is inspired by protest signs from the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike of 1968. We also introduced graphic elements that reference the nature and energy of grassroots activism. 

Want to see more? Click around our website to explore the new color palette and textual designs, or learn more about our Anthem Award-winning redesign.

People, Power, Purpose

Our student leaders made our voices heard at state capitols this year. Our students showed up—at Advocacy Days and throughout the year—to connect with lawmakers across the country. 

Our efforts made an impact in:

  • California

    15 new Students Demand Action groups in California got started and immediately took action in their communities. Some of our newest student leaders were instrumental in the passage of AB 1858, which will establish guidelines and procedures for active shooter drills in our schools.

  • Colorado

    Students in Colorado relentlessly advocated for gun safety. They spent hours in committee hearings to testify about legislation and hosted a rally during Colorado’s Advocacy Day. And their work paid off: the Colorado legislature passed six gun violence prevention bills! 

  • Georgia

    More than five new Students Demand Action groups started in Georgia this year. After the Apalachee High School shooting, students jumped into action. They spoke to lawmakers and hosted walkouts at high schools in surrounding areas. And they’re ready to continue advocating in 2025!

  • Kansas

    In Kansas, when lawmakers introduced a bill that would have enshrined the right to bear arms in the Kansas Constitution, our students spoke out. And the bill was defeated in committee later in the legislative session!

  • Maine

    In Maine, students organized to pass laws to: 

    • Establish waiting periods for purchasing firearms, 
    • Expand background check requirements, and 
    • Take another solid step toward a true Extreme Risk Protection Order law. 
  • Missouri

    In Missouri, students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City worked hard to register voters. At one point, they reached nearly 100 folks on campus in just three days of voter registration!

  • New York

    Students in New York showed up and showed out at their Advocacy Day. Their efforts helped pass a first-of-its-kind bill to hold bad actors in the gun industry accountable for the safety of their weapons.

  • North Carolina

    In North Carolina, students held dozens of events to get out the vote across the state. From dorm storms, phonebanks, and more, students made over 15,000 voter contacts to help elect Gun Sense Candidates. Their efforts helped to elect a gun sense governor and attorney general. They also broke the legislative supermajority, paving the way for future gun sense wins!

  • Oregon

    In Oregon, newer high school groups jumped into action to host phonebanks and meetings to help get out the vote for Gun Sense Candidates. And after the election, high school students were quick to support us with the kickoff of the Are You Good with That? campaign and billboard unveiling! 

  • Tennessee

    Our Tennessee students continued pushing the state legislature to take meaningful action to save lives by: 

    • Rallying against the passing of an arming teachers bill, 
    • Holding walkouts and marching to the state capitol, and 
    • Continually meeting with lawmakers.

In June, Students Demand Action volunteers from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., for Everytown’s annual Gun Sense University (GSU) convening. This year’s GSU fell during Pride Month, a time to celebrate the history, resilience, accomplishments, and beauty of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Students Demand Action celebrated with a social outing to the Capital Pride Festival during GSU for LGBTQIA+ students and allies. At D.C. Pride, queer students and allies built community and reminded each other that LGBTQIA+ identities are beautiful and deserve to be celebrated. The gathering served as a grounding practice and reminder of ways we disarm hate: by loving ourselves, loving each other, and lifting each other up.

A group of about 20 students pose in two rows, many of them holding signs that say "Disarm Hate" in white text on rainbow flags.

Days later, following live remarks from President Biden at Gun Sense University, our students joined hundreds of volunteers from all 50 states and D.C. took to Capitol Hill for our largest federal advocacy day. We demanded that every member of Congress take meaningful action to end our nation’s gun violence crisis.

Three Students Demand Action volunteers pose with seven Moms Demand Action volunteers; all are representing the New Mexico chapter during federal advocacy day at Gun Sense University in Washington, D.C.

Our students kept that energy up heading into the fall election season. The election results at the top of the ticket were not what we had worked so hard for, but we did make a positive impact in the 2024 elections. We swept 3,300 Gun Sense Candidates to victory, including hundreds of our own volunteers. 

We showed up this election cycle, with more students than ever engaging in our elections work. Together, Students Demand Action and Moms Demand Action volunteers made over 12 million voter contacts this election cycle. Those phone calls, text messages, door knocks, postcards, and conversations were not in vain. 

Every conversation students like you started, every event you hosted, and every person you reached spread the message that change is possible—one action at a time.

Because when we come together, we can shift the narrative and drive real impact. And with more students participating in our elections work this year than ever before, we can see that impact now.

Looking Ahead

In 2024, you met each moment with determination. In every state and in D.C., students just like you have shown what’s possible when young people take action.

We’re ready to carry that forward into 2025, and we’ve got some New Year’s Resolutions we can’t wait to work on:

  • Push back against attempts to weaken gun safety laws
  • Call out lawmakers who cower to the gun lobby
  • Stand up to misogyny, racism, homophobia, and transphobia
  • Hold the gun industry’s #KillerBusiness accountable
  • Never stop fighting for a future free from gun violence!

We’re ready to take action. Are you?

Join Us in 2025

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