| Design: theSkimm | Photo: Getty Images Rally up: In the wake of Uvalde and other recent mass shootings, senators had hoped to reach a bipartisan deal on gun safety reform by the end of the week. That didn’t happen. And as talks stretch into the rest of the month, the filibuster-proof measures are getting thinner by the day. So grassroots organizers are mobilizing. The StoryToday, more than 450 marches are planned across the country to demand an end to the nation’s gun violence epidemic. (Find one near you, here.) This mass mobilization was organized by March for Our Lives, and follows weeks of testimony from people directly impacted — survivors, families of victims — who have shared their stories in congressional hearings and to the media: “My mother’s life mattered. And your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you,” Garnell Whitfield Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. His mother, Ruth Whitfield, 86, was killed in the Buffalo, NY, supermarket massacre. “Somewhere out there, there is a mom listening to our testimony thinking, ‘I can’t even imagine their pain,’ not knowing that our reality will someday be hers,” Kimberly Rubio told the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Her daughter Lexi, 10, was killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, TX. “[Officers] have a bulletproof vest. I had nothing,” Arnulfo Reyes, an Uvalde teacher who lost all 11 of his students, told ABC. “You can give us all the training you want but the laws have to change.” “I talked about that at Dylan’s funeral: This is going to be a time for change. I don’t know what that is going to be, but something good will come from this. I can’t let his death be for nothing,” Nicole Hockley told The Atlantic. Her son Dylan, 6, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Ten years ago. What now?If the Senate can’t get a bill past a filibuster, or passes one that mostly says ‘it’s up to states,’ local lawmakers and governors may have to pick up the slack. (Reminder: Voters in 36 states will elect governors this year.) And Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of gun safety right now — 90% support background checks. At least 63% support a ban on assault-style weapons. This isn’t the first time states have stepped in for the gov. See: New York. California. And Florida, after Parkland. (Texas, on the other hand, has loosened gun laws after its mass shootings.) But activists aren’t willing to wait for all 50 states to suffer the same fate before meaningful laws are passed. So people are making their voices heard. theSkimm After mass shootings, lawmakers opposed to stricter gun control often take a page from the same playbook: Condemn any attempt to make new regulations as ‘politics,’ then wait until public outrage fades. Today’s March for Our Lives rallies could be the clearest sign that public outrage will not fade. And Americans aren’t willing to look away. | 