And the question now, seven months before the midterm elections and more than two years before the 2020 presidential election, is this: Will it stick?
Will the same energy that motivated a half-million people to descend on D.C. and thousands more to join in MarchForOurLives events across the country demanding that politicians support additional restrictions on gun ownership translate into a significant electoral impact?
Those who attended the Washington march on March 24 say they're determined to see this through.
Sammy Caruso, 16, a senior at Oakwood High School near Dayton, is two years away from casting his first vote, but he said he is already organizing another rally, this one on April 20 to mark commemorate the anniversary of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School outside Denver.
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Alex Bihari is hopeful, too. He's a senior at Thomas Worthington High School who, like Caruso, attended the Washington march. When he goes to the polls for the first time this year, he said, he''ll vote on three issues: guns, immigrants and refugees, and how candidates stand on Donald Trump.
"If someone is on the payroll of the NRA and gun lobby, that's a deal-breaker for me," he said. "If someone is not willing to help refugees and immigrants, that's a deal-breaker for me. If someone supports Donald Trump, that's a deal-breaker for me."
They say they're energized. Others say sustaining that energy will take work and persistence.
"It's really hard, after you've channeled that energy and excitement, to keep it sustained," said one Washington Republican who has worked with young activists. "It's fun to go march with tons of people and yell and scream. But it's not a lot of fun to go door-knocking on a Wednesday night when it's kind of cold and windy."
Although the march was organized to press for gun control, organizers seemed resigned to the notion that they wouldn't change minds. Better, they argued, to change the officeholders.
Even the signs reflected that: "Grab 'em by the midterms," read one sign; "See you in November," read another; "I'm joining whatever political party those kids in Florida just started," read a third.
Aaron Ghitelman of HeadCount, a nonpartisan organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy, said his group sent volunteers to marches across the country, registering 4,800 people to vote within 10 hours on March 24. That figure did not include voter registrations conducted on the internet.
"I think regardless of what you think about the issue, it certainly is exciting to see young people being listened to," said Abby
