Crowds Gathered For Largest US Gun Control Protest In A Generation

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators attended the 'March for Our Lives' rally for gun control, took place near the US Capitol. Photo: AFP/Alex Edelman


Bundled against the cold but, fired up with passion after a Florida high school massacre, thousands of protesters poured out of the city's subway and filled Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, which links the White House with the Capitol, making it difficult to get close to the main stage in Washington, DC on Saturday.

It could be the biggest US gun control protest in a generation with hundreds of thousands attending.

The student-organized protest is to feature rallies from coast to coast, with the main event in Washington within sight of the US Capitol - whose lawmakers the protesters hope to influence.

"Let our votes be our best weaponry," said one of the many signs carried by early protesters, who arrived more than three hours before the event's official mid-day start.

The area was closed to traffic in order to hold the half-million protesters squeezing into streets flanked by giant video screens proclaiming their slogan, "March for Our Lives."

A large peace sign decorated with flowers called for a ban on assault rifles, such as the type used in the Florida shooting. "The Second Amendment doesn't guarantee, I don't believe, the right to own an assault rifle," said Billy McLaughlin, 67, a teacher from West Virginia. He and other demonstrators repeated a common complaint of gun control advocates, that politicians are beholden to the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group.


(AFP)





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