Banking giant Citigroup says it will no longer work with retailers who sell firearms to people who haven’t passed a background check or are younger than 21. The move makes Citi the first major bank to move to restrict gun sales in the wake of last month’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This comes ahead of tomorrow’s March for Our Lives protest in Washington, D.C., which is expected to see hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and others rally for new gun controls. This is Alaya Eastman, a student survivor of last month’s massacre, speaking Thursday ahead of tomorrow’s march.
Alaya Eastman: “Unfortunately, I lost two people in my class, and six were hit. I was on the wrong side of the class, and no student should have to cover themselves with a deceased classmate to survive, but I was that student. We can’t only focus on school shootings, though. Urban communities and low-income communities have always been hit with gun violence, forever. I lost my uncle due to gun violence in Brooklyn 15 years ago, and nothing has changed. Columbine happened, nothing’s changed. Sandy Hook happened, nothing’s changed. Parkland happened, nothing’s changed.”
Democracy Now! will be in Washington, D.C., with a special 4-hour broadcast on Saturday, from noon Eastern Daylight Time to 4 p.m., covering the March for Our Lives. You can go to democracynow.org.