March for Our Lives Activists Fill Washington DC Streets

Students and activists flooded the streets in Washington D.C. on Saturday for the March For Our Lives event organized by survivors from Stoneman Douglas High School.

The march began at noon in Washington, where thousands of people were already in the streets in preparation. The ambitious mission statement of March For Our Lives says that hopes to end to end the epidemic of school shootings and mass shootings in the United States entirely.

“Not one more,” reads the march’s official website. “We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives. “

The march is expected to draw about half a million people across the nation, in hundreds of cities. The main event in the the United States capital will be lead by students who survived the Parkland, Florida school shooting just over one month ago.

In D.C., the march is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. Demonstrators will march down Pennsylvania Avenue. Performances by Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and many others are planned, while speakers include several students who have been affected by gun violence, many under the age of 18. The students of Stoneman Douglas High have vowed to keep up the fight as long as necessary in order to oust lobbying groups like the National Rifle Association and make their schools safe.

The march includes voter registration drives and events, with the hope of inspiring action against politicians who take money from gun lobbies. There will also be candlelight vigils and interfaith prayers. Some gatherings in the city began on Friday evening, with monumental turn outs.

The loudest of the student activists from Parkland are opposed to this plan, which was recently signed into law in the state of Florida. Florida’s recent gun control bill included measures from both sides of the fence, leaving almost no one satisfied. It raised the minimum age to purchase long guns to 21 and added a three day waiting period, while also implementing a program to put guns in the hands of school teachers.

The bill also banned bump stock devices, which can effectively turn a semi-automatic assault rifle into a machine gun. The president also focused on this measure in a series of Tweets on Friday, though he refrained from addressing the march in the nation’s capital directly.

A bump stock device was not used in the Parkland, Florida school shooting.