The group, which formed shortly after the 2012 school shooting in Sandy Hook, where 27 were killed, has seen a huge increase in people liking their Facebook page, commenting on posts and sending messages asking how to get involved. A first meeting of the group's Bozeman chapter last week had 80 people, said Kiely Lammers, the Billings chapter leader who is involved in the statewide organization.
A national movement, led by a strong-voiced and even stronger-willed group of high school students, is bringing a dialogue on changing gun laws to states like Montana. Over the past week and a half here, high school and college student groups have rapidly formed and added to the chorus of groups like Moms Demand Action, which has been involved in statewide legislative efforts for several years.
"People are typically outraged and interested and worried for about three to five days after a mass shooting or a school shooting, and then it really fizzes down," Lammers said. "But we're going on day 10 and people are just getting warmed up. This movement does feel different."
Lammers thinks that energy might make this the moment when her group switches from merely battling bills that expand access to firearms to advocating for what it calls stronger, sensible gun laws.
