PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s a day of action in Philadelphia and other cities across the country. Thousands flocked to Washington, D.C., Saturday for the second March For Our Lives rally, and many others joined related demonstrations in their own cities as part of a renewed push for nationwide gun control.
Motivated by a fresh surge in mass shootings, from Uvalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, protesters say lawmakers must take note of shifting public opinion and finally enact sweeping reforms.
Saturday’s March for Our Lives rally was expected to draw around 50,000 demonstrators to the Washington Monument — far less than the original 2018 march, which filled downtown Washington with more than 200,000 people. This time, organizers are focusing on holding smaller marches at about 300 locations.
Hundreds of people — many young kids and teens — came together in West Philadelphia Saturday morning, just one week since the deadly mass shooting on South Street claimed three lives.
“There’s violence everywhere, but in Philadelphia right now, we have it bad,” said 17-year-old Jabrea King.
She said this isn’t just about mass shootings; it’s about communities. “No one feels safe anymore, and people — teens, young people — are feeling encouraged to get a gun to protect themselves, and it's causing more violence.”
Nadine Tinley, 14, hopes this march will make some moves toward gun control in the U.S.
“I think if we all do it together, we’ll make some sort of change,” she said.
King and Tinley are not yet old enough to vote, but 18-year-old Mardean Murray is. He said gun violence is the most significant issue affecting young people in America today, and if elected officials can’t or won’t protect them, he said his generation will vote for people who will.
“They need to come do something,” he said. “They got voted for the job and they need to do something with the job.”
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The first March For Our Lives was spurred by the Feb. 14, 2018, killings of 14 students and three staff members by a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That massacre sparked the creation of the youth-led movement, which successfully pressured the Republican-dominated Florida state government to enact sweeping gun control reforms.
The Parkland students then took aim at gun laws in other states and nationally, launching March for Our Lives and holding the big rally in Washington on March 24, 2018.
The group did not match the Florida results at the national level, but has persisted in advocating for gun restrictions since then, as well as participating in voter registration drives.
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Now, with another string of mass shootings bringing gun control back into the national conversation, organizers of this weekend’s events say the time is right to renew their push for a national overhaul.
Saturday’s protest also comes at a time of renewed political activity on guns and a crucial moment for possible action in Congress.
The House has passed bills that would raise the age limit to buy semi-automatic weapons and establish federal “red flag” laws. But such initiatives have traditionally stalled or been heavily watered down in the Senate. Democratic and Republican senators had hoped to reach agreement this week on a framework for addressing the issue and talked Friday, but they had not announced an accord by early evening.
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