Thousands gather worldwide to march for gun control

Organisers hope the passions of the crowds and the under-18 roster of speakers will translate into a tipping point starting in the midterm elections.

Crowds march on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington (Alex Brandon/AP)

Thousands of protesters have swarmed into the US capital and cities across the world to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young.

Organisers of the March For Our Lives rally in Washington hoped their protest would match in numbers and spirit last year’s Women’s March, one of the largest Washington protests since the Vietnam era and one that far exceeded predictions of 300,000 demonstrators.

Bearing signs reading “We Are the Change”, “No More Silence” and “Keep NRA Money Out of Politics”, protesters lined Pennsylvania Avenue from the stage near the Capitol, stretching back towards the White House.

President Donald Trump was in Florida for the weekend; a motorcade took him to his West Palm Beach golf club on Saturday morning.

After the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students have tapped into a current of pro-gun control sentiment that has been building for years – yet still faces a powerful counterpoint from supporters of gun rights.

Organisers hope the passions of the crowds and the under-18 roster of speakers will translate into a tipping point starting in the midterm elections this year.

Ayanne Johnson, a student from Great Mills High School in southern Maryland, holds up the photograph of her classmate Jaelynn Willey during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington (Jose Luis Magana/AP) — Ayanne Johnson, a student from Great Mills High School in southern Maryland, holds up a photograph of her classmate Jaelynn Willey during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Eden Kinlock, 17, came from 20 miles away to pass out water, “a small thing but it helps in the bigger picture.” Many Parkland students came to the Washington rally.

Washington is generally nonchalant about protests, but Saturday’s gathering prompted more attention and speculation than usual. The protesters, many of them high school students, claim that the youth leadership of this initiative is what will set it apart from previous attempts to enact stronger gun-control legislation.

Polls indicate that public opinion nationwide may indeed be shifting on an issue that has simmered for generations, and through dozens of mass shootings.

Protesters on Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue (Jose Luis Magana/AP) — Protesters on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that 69% of Americans think gun laws in the United States should be tightened.

That was up from 61% who said the same in October of 2016 and 55% when the AP first asked the question in October of 2013. Overall, 90% of Democrats, 50% of Republicans and 54% of gun owners now favour stricter gun control laws.

But even with claims of historic social momentum on the issue of gun control, the AP poll also found that nearly half of Americans do not expect elected officials to take action. Among the questions facing march organisers and participants will be how to translate this one-day event, regardless of turnout, into meaningful legislative change.

One way is by channelling the current energy into the midterm congressional elections this autumn.

Students in Florida have focused on youth voter registration and there will be a registration booth at the Saturday rally.