American teens want vivid photos of their deaths to be publicized if they're killed in a mass shooting - and it's part of a new campaign to end gun violence
- A group of Columbine students created #mylastshot, a campaign against gun violence.
- The campaign is simple, but powerful - participants attach a sticker to their ID or phone that gives permission for a photo of their death to be published by the media.
- The hope is that these photos will be the message that finally inspires gun reform, according to The Huffington Post.
- The campaign is gaining ground in the wake of the recent El Paso and Dayton shootings - but it's not the first effort by teens to call for gun control.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
American teens are taking a powerful stand against mass shootings in a simple way - with a hashtag and a sticker.
They've been promoting the campaign, known as #mylastshot, following the recent back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, reported Brittany Wong for The Huffington Post. The shootings left at least 31 dead and more than 50 injured in less than 24 hours.
A group of Columbine High School students created #mylastshot. The sticker reads: "In the event that I die from gun violence, please publicize the photo of my death. #MyLastShot. Signed, _____."
Participants of the campaign attach the sticker to the back of their driver's license, ID, or phone. The campaign was first reported on in March 2019 by Tom Mustin of The Denver Channel, a month before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, what was once the largest school shooting in American history.
The students of the high school spent their school years worried about gun violence.
They hope to "make a shocking point to those in America who continue to be complacent to the country's gun violence epidemic," student Kaylee Tyner said on #MyLastShot's website. "We also hope this campaign will start a conversation around the realities of what gun violence truly looks like."
They think the last photo of their bodies could be what finally inspires gun reform, Wong wrote.
Tyner's peer Emmy Adams, who helped create #mylastshot, told Wong that history shows images are compelling enough to fuel change - like the 1955 photo of 14-year-old African-American Emmett Till who was lynched in a hate crime. It's the image served as the inspiration for the #mylastshot campaign, according to its website.
"The youth of America are dying at the hands of our leaders' inaction," Adams told Wong. "and if they're not willing to face this reality, we will show it to them."
However, different media outlets have different policies regarding sharing graphic images - the sticker won't guarantee a photo of their body would be published, Wong said.
#mylastshot isn't the only campaign created by teens pushing for gun control. A group of students, including survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, organized anti-gun-violence event March for Our Lives in Washington, DC, in March 2018. Their movement against gun violence was dubbed #NeverAgain.