Hundreds of Thousands of People Will March Against Gun Violence Today

Students at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts participate in a walkout in support of March For Our Lives.John Locher/AP

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Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the US—and even the world—are planning to take part in over 800 rallies and marches scheduled for Saturday to protest the epidemic of gun violence in the United States and to call for stricter gun control measures. The “March For Our Lives” in Washington, DC, and companion protests worldwide, were organized by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after the mass shooting there on February 14 took 17 lives. Organizers are expecting 500,000 people in Washington, DC, alone.
The high school students, including Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, are leading a new wave of activism around this issue. Though Florida enacted new gun control restrictions after the shooting (along with a measure to arm teachers), Congress has done nothing. The National Rifle Association also reportedly persuaded President Donald Trump not to push for tougher gun regulations. 

I’m ready to change America and save lives are you?
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 24, 2018

“The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues,” says the mission statement from the march website. There were 38,000 gun deaths in the US last year and there have been 17 school shootings so far in 2018 – an average of one per week.
Mother Jones has reporters covering the protests across the country: Nathalie Baptiste and Kara Voght in DC, James West and Mark Helenowski are traveling with students and families from Newtown, Connecticut, to Washington, Ari Berman in New York City, Bryan Schatz and Al Kamalizad in Salt Lake City, and Margaret Kadifa in San Francisco. Follow them for breaking news on the marches.
And watch this space for our our real-time updates.