Terri
Robinowitz, center, holds a framed
photo of her granddaughter Alyssa
Alhadeff who was killed in the
shootings at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School, with Alyssa's
parents, Lori Alhadeff and Ilan
Alhadeff, right, as lawmakers and
gun control activists gather at the
U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday,
March 23, 2018, a day before the
March for Our Lives rally Saturday.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Thousands
gather
to march
for gun
control
and
spark
activism By
ASHRAF
KHALIL
and
CALVIN
WOODWARD
APNews.com
WASHINGTON
-
Summoned
by high
school
students
swept up
in
school
violence,
thousands
swarmed
into the
nation’s
capital
and
cities
across
America
on
Saturday
to march
for gun
control
and
ignite
political
activism
among
the
young.
Organizers
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,”
″Keep
NRA
Money
Out of
Politics,”
protesters
lined
Pennsylvania
Avenue
from the
stage
near the
Capitol,
stretching
back
toward
the
White
House.
The
route
also
takes in
the
Trump
International
Hotel.
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 Feb.
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.
Organizers
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.
People
flocked,
too, to
a “March
for Our
Lives”
event
near the
Parkland
school
where
the
massacre
happened.
Police
presence
was
heavy as
organizers
set up
and
demonstrators
streamed
in. 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.
A
new poll
conducted
by The
Associated
Press-NORC
Center
for
Public
Affairs
Research
found
that 69
percent
of
Americans
think
gun laws
in the
United
States
should
be
tightened.
That’s
up from
61
percent
who said
the same
in
October
of 2016
and 55
percent
when the
AP first
asked
the
question
in
October
of 2013.
Overall,
90
percent
of
Democrats,
50
percent
of
Republicans
and 54
percent
of gun
owners
now
favor
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
organizers
and
participants
will be
how to
translate
this
one-day
event,
regardless
of
turnout,
into
meaningful
legislative
change.
One
way is
by
channeling
the
current
energy
into the
midterm
congressional
elections
this
fall.
Students
in
Florida
have
focused
on youth
voter
registration
and
there
will be
a
registration
booth at
the
Saturday
rally.