20,000 march by Stoneman Douglas High to support gun laws

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The march approaching Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, snaked for two miles Saturday, with thousands of students, teachers, parents and supporters chanting in favor of tighter gun laws they believe would have prevented last month’s massacre there. “Enough is enough,” they shouted. “No more AR-15s,” referring to semi-automatic rifle the killer used.

But when they reached the school, the March for Our Lives participants went stone silent to honor the 17 students and staff members who died, martyrs for a movement that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Washington, D.C., and cities nationwide Saturday. Protesters are demanding new laws and programs that they believe will curtail mass shootings at schools and elsewhere. Elsewhere in Florida, local media reported that 25,000 people gathered in Orlando, and another 13,000 in Tampa.

More than 20,000 attended the rally and march in Parkland, a well-to-do Fort Lauderdale suburb of 31,000 that would have been an unlikely spot for a massive street protest before the Feb. 14 shooting put it in the middle of the national gun debate.

“It is ridiculous that we have to do this, that it is even up for conversation,” said Sarah Hingoo, a 17-year-old Stoneman Douglas student. “We shouldn’t have to do this to change lawmakers’ minds. They should just have common sense.”

A morning rally filled much of a park two miles from the school, taking on the air of a campaign event. Voter registration booths dotted the sidewalks, friends welcomed friends and music such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and David Guetta’s “Titanium” blared from loudspeakers.

Adam Buckwald, a 16-year-old Stoneman Douglas student, told the crowd it’s “incomprehensible” that with the previous mass shootings in Las Vegas, Orlando and elsewhere in recent years, no significant changes have been made to federal gun laws.