Jewish Parkland Survivors Launch Movement For Parents To Pledge No To Guns

Students on their first day back at Marjory Stoneman Douglas after the February 14 shooting. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman March 8, 2018

Two Jewish survivors of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, are launching a parallel gun reform movement to #NeverAgain, the New Yorker reported.

Adam Buchwald and Zach Hibshman are both 17, and they’re hoping to get kids across the country to have their parents sign a contract that they’ll “vote for leaders who put kids’ safety over guns.”

“Our classmates marched in Tallahassee, which we think is great,” Buchwald said, in reference to the #NeverAgain protests, which have been mirrored in cities across the U.S. “But our movement will make a major change in future elections.”

The contracts are purposefully loose: “I/We [parent name(s)] promise to [child name(s)] that I/We will vote for legislative leaders who support your children’s safety over guns!”

Buchwald and Hibshman say they’ve already had 100 contracts uploaded to their website.

They’ve received support, opposition and confusing responses to their campaign on social media.

“Someone wrote a message on Twitter saying we needed one for people who don’t have children. Who just have dogs and cats,” said Hibshman.

Many people have responded with derision and scorn for their campaign. The boys do their best not to get involved. Their main comeback? “Thanks for voicing your opinion.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO