Thousands took part in the hundreds of rallies held across the country Saturday to demand gun law changes in the U.S.
An estimated 300 March for Our Lives protests were held across the country, including in cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas, Portland, Maine and New York. More than 30,000 also packed Washington D.C.’s national mall, huddled under umbrellas to call on Congress to pass stricter gun control measures.
As the rain fell, speakers all touted the same message– calling on senators, some of whom have been deemed major impediments to changes in legislation, to act or face the prospect of being voted out of office.
Collective anger and sorrow appeared to turn into action after Americans bore witness to the latest spate of mass shootings across the country, including in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was among those who spoke on the mall. “I speak as a mayor, a mom, and I speak for millions of Americans and America’s mayors who are demanding that Congress do its job,” Bowser said. “And its job is to protect us, to protect our children from gun violence.”
Students from the non-profit organization “March for Our Lives” held the nationwide event. The group was started by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and staff in 2018.
“If our government can’t do anything to stop 19 kids from being killed and slaughtered in their own school, and decapitated, it’s time to change who is in government,” David Hogg, a Parkland Survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder, told the crowd in D.C.
Yolanda King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr., added: “This time is different because this isn’t about politics. It’s about morality. Not right and left, but right and wrong, and that doesn’t just mean thoughts and prayers. That means courage and action.”
President Joe Biden, who was in California on Saturday, told demonstrators to “keep marching” and added that he is “mildly optimistic” about legislative negotiations to address gun violence, the Associated Press reported.
The House has passed bills to raise the age limit to buy semi-automatic weapons and establish federal “red flag” laws. A bipartisan group of senators hoped to reach agreement this week on a framework for addressing the issue and held talks Friday, but no deal was announced.
At least 10 republicans need to vote with democrats in order to break the current filibuster and pass gun legislation.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who is the lead Democrat in the bipartisan negotiations over new gun safety measures, told CNN he thinks more than 10 Republicans will support those measures in the Senate.
RELATED STORIES