‘Never Again’: Thousands attend studentled antigun rallies in US
‘DONE HIDING’ Protesters issue angry rebukes to NRA, politicians who oppose tough laws on purchasing firearms
school shooting in recent memory and the name of every victim was listed by hand on a 10-foot banner.
The headline on the sign read: #NotOneMore. And the bottom line was: #MarchForOurLives.
It was a while before Cowen Shaughnissy, a 17-year-old from Philadelphia, who was holding up the sign with his brother and a neighbour, realised why they were getting so much attention. Late to the march, they had grabbed the first open spot they could find — right in front of Trump International.
Asked if they expected President Donald Trump to help change gun laws, Cowen shook his head. His brother Connor turned way with a grimace.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans walked in rallies and marches around the country on Saturday with a new resolve to change gun laws, spurred by the killing of 14 students at a Florida high school on February 14.
According to the organisers, more than 800 such protests — called the March For Our Lives events — took place in the US. They found solidarity from their peers across the world, from Britain to India, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Argentina, Israel, Ghana and many other countries.
“There is strength in numbers, and we need each and every one of you to keep screaming at your own congressman,” Jaclyn Corin, a student of the Florida high school said at the Washington event. “We cannot keep America great if we cannot keep America safe,” she added, with a nod to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign slogan.
Cameron Kasky, another student from the Florida school, said: “To the leaders, sceptics and cynics who told us to sit down, stay silent and wait your turn — welcome to the revolution.”
WASHINGTON:Every
An undercurrent of disappointment and disgust with politicians ran through the crowds.
“I hope the politicians deliver this time and not stand in the way of these kids,” said Natalie Miller, who sat in a wheelchair. “I’m with the kids,” read a sign resting in her lap.
There had been 17 school shooting in 2018 before February 14, and there have been four more since, claiming 27 lives in all.
The powerful National Rifle Association criticised the marches, saying in a Facebook post that “gun-hating billionaires and Hollywood elites” are behind them and are “manipulating and exploiting children as part of their plan to DESTROY the Second Amendment and strip us of our right to defend ourselves and our loved ones”.