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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Amanda Holpuch and Paul Owen

March for Our Lives: hundreds of thousands demand end to gun violence – as it happened

Here’s our report from Oliver Laughland and Lois Beckett in Washington:

Summary

  • Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Washington to call for tighter gun laws following the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, last month.
  • The rally was led by young activists from Parkland and across the country, in an array of powerful and composed speeches from young people from diverse backgrounds.
  • The White House praised the demonstrators for exercising their right to free speech, but Donald Trump himself was silent at the time of writing, seeming to spend much of the day at his golf club in Florida.
  • Barack Obama tweeted: “Michelle and I are so inspired by all the young people who made today’s marches happen. Keep at it. You’re leading us forward.”
  • Protesters in Washington formed a sea of people along Pennsylvania Avenue, while demonstrators also gathered in Parkland, New York City, San Francisco, and in cities around the world.
  • Students from the school newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, where the February massacre took place, attended the march as special correspondents for the Guardian and have been guest-editing the Guardian US website since yesterday.
  • The rallies are aiming to persuade Congress to tighten the US’s notoriously lax firearm laws, which have made gun massacres a regular part of American life.
  • Emma Gonzalez, one of the best-known Parkland student activists, led the crowd in 6min 20secs of silence to symbolise the amount of time it took the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, to commit the 17 murders.
  • “We are done hiding,” said her fellow student Ryan Deitsch. “We are done being full of fear. This is the beginning of the end. From here, we fight.”
  • Another student, David Hogg, brought up a major theme of the rally when he urged protesters to register to vote. “When politicians send thoughts and prayers we say no more!” he said. “I say to politicians : get your resumes ready!” Chants of “vote them out” punctuated the event.
  • Seventeen-year-old Edna Chavez, from Manual Arts High in Los Angeles entered the stage with a raised fist and spoke powerfully about losing her brother to gun violence when she was a young child. “I have learned to duck from bullets before I learned to read,” she told the crowd.
  • Eleven-year-old Christopher Underwood, who lost his brother age five to a shooting, said: “I would like to not worry about dying. But worry about math and play basketball with my friends.”
  • Martin Luther King Jr’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, said: “I have a dream that enough is enough. And that this should be a gun free world, period.”
  • “This is a moment of history that I want to be part of,” pop star Miley Cyrus, who sang onstage earlier, told one of our Parkland special correspondents.
  • In New York City, Paul McCartney joined the marchers. “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it’s important to me,” he said.
  • In Parkland, tens of thousands of marchers passed Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in respectful silence. “Enough really is enough,” Rebecca Price-Taylor told the Guardian. “No more of these weapons of war.”
  • Organizers want the US Congress to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Florida rampage and to tighten background checks for gun buyers.
  • On Friday, Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that includes modest improvements to background checks for gun sales and grants to help schools prevent gun violence, and the Justice Department proposed rule changes that would effectively ban “bump stock” devices that let semi-automatic weapons fire like a machine gun.
  • Protesters consider these measures insufficient. “When you give us an inch, that bump stocks ban, we will take a mile,” said student Delaney Tarr. “We are not here for breadcrumbs, we are here to lead.”


The Guardian is covering the people, action and ideas driving the protest movement in the US in our series, The Resistance Now. Sign up for weekly email updates about activism and protest

Updated

Out west, where it is about 1pm PT, demonstrations continue. More from The Guardian’s Sam Levin:

Huge crowds have gathered in San Francisco for one of the biggest marches of the day in California.

Sara Butorac, 15, stood outside San Francisco city hall carrying an anti-NRA poster.

“We need this to stop,” Butorac said. “Everyone needs to come together and have that support for everyone that has been losing their lives and their loved ones.”

She said her school regularly does active shooter drills where they discuss whether to run or hide. Some teachers have instructed them to throw objects at a gunman as a last resort: “We are being trained.”

Her older sister, Amanda, 24, is studying to become a teacher and said it was depressing that students had to spend so much time thinking about a possible killer in their schools.

“I feel as a future educator that students across the nation shouldn’t be afraid to come to school. Their education should be their most important time. You should be finding out who you are in high school, not worrying and being afraid.”

Manon Starring, 17, said she was tired of reading so many terrible stories: “We need change. We are definitely overdue. This is a big step today. We need to get our voices heard.”

In 2018, a protest tradition in Washington DC is dropping placards off in front of a hotel owned by the president.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas students were on Twitter during and immediately after the school’s shooting on 14 Feb. They are back there again to post some early reactions to today’s rally in Washington DC.

More from the Guardian’s Sam Levin in Oakland.

There was a huge crowd of protesters outside city hall in Oakland, considered one of the most liberal cities in the country.

A lone pro-gun protester showed up with a large “SUPPORT THE NRA” sign that towered above the crowd.

Protesters, including many high school students, repeatedly shouted him down, some linking hands and forming a circle around him.

“Talk to the kids! Talk to the kids!” they shouted.

There was also a strong showing of teachers at the Oakland rally, which took off just before a sister protest in San Francisco across the bay.

People walk carrying signs and chanting as they participate in a March for our Lives rally in Chicago, Illinois
People walk carrying signs and chanting as they participate in a March For Our Lives rally in Chicago, Illinois Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA
Protesters fill Pennsylvania Avenue during the March For Our Lives in Washington DC
Protesters fill Pennsylvania Avenue during the March For Our Lives in Washington DC Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA
People hold signs as they participate in the March For Our Lives event at Pine Trails Park before walking to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
People hold signs as they participate in the March For Our Lives event at Pine Trails Park before walking to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Many families showed up to the march in Oakland, with some of the youngest protesters making their own signs:

Jennifer Hudson concluded the rally’s musical performances, with student activists joining her on stage.

Hudson’s mother, brother, and nephew were killed in a shooting in 2008.

Actress Jennifer Hudson performs during the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington, DC
Actress Jennifer Hudson performs during the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington, DC Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

It’s a sunny, crisp day at the main March For Our Lives in Washington DC, but the same can’t be said for demonstrations in other parts of the US.

Protestors have braved freezing temperatures in Bethel, Alaska, where a high school student killed two classmates and wounded two others in 1997.

(24 degrees Fahrenheit is about -4 degrees Celsius).

Emma Gonzalez, one of the best-known Parkland student activists, speaks next.

Speaking rapidly, she says everyone in the “Douglas community” was for ever altered by the shooting last month.

“No one could comprehend the devastating aftermath or how far this would reach.”

She lists the 17 people killed, humanizing them by specifying details about their personalities before suddenly falling into a long period of silence, tears rolling down her face.

It’s another amazingly powerful, self-confident and composed appearance from a young person flung into the public eye just a short time ago.

The crowd begins to chant “Never again!”

Emma remains silent.

An alarm beeps. Emma announces that 6min 20secs have passed. At that point during the Parkland shooting, she says, “the shooter has ceased shooting and will soon walk free” and blend in with the crowd, not being apprehended for another hour.

The crowd chants “Emma, Emma” as she leaves the stage.

Emma Gonzalez addresses the march.
Emma Gonzalez addresses the march. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Newtown youth speak out

Matthew Soto, 19, just spoke about the impact of gun violence.

His sister, Vicki Soto, was gunned down in the shooting at Newtown’s Sandy Hook elementary, where she taught first grade.

“Get involved in your community, because change no matter how small, is change.”

Soto said he was on stage because there were no significant changes to US gun laws after 20 students between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members, were killed at Newtown’s Sandy Hook elementary school.

“Five years ago and no change has come,” Soto said.

A Sandy Hook elementary graduate, Tommy Murray, followed Soto.

Murray said he was in sixth grade at the school when the shooting occurred. The gunman was his neighbor.

“I have attended vigils, I have protested in front of the gun lobby in our town,” Murray said.

“They didn’t ban assault weapons, they didn’t pass background check bills.”

Another Newtown student, Jackson Mittleman, talked about how he became an anti-gun violence organizer when he was 11-years-old.

“Long after the media trucks leave, we will stand by you in your healing and recovery,” he said.

“Mr Trump, senate and all elected members of Congress, you have failed us. We have had enough of your NRA agenda.”

“We are going to vote you out.”

There’s a lot of support for Black Lives Matter in Oakland, a city that helped give rise to the national movement against police brutality, writes Sam Levin.

Some protesters here have argued that the discussion about gun policy must include conversations about police violence.

Earlier this week, police in nearby Sacramento shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark, an unarmed black father of two who was standing in his grandmother’s backyard. The killing had sparked protests across the California capital, and many mentioned Clark’s name at the Oakland rally.

Jamie Thrower, 30, who wore a Black Lives Matter shirt to the rally, said, “How do we make sure we’re protecting children of color from police violence? ... If you’re not talking about that, you’re missing a huge narrative.”

She said she was frustrated some were criticizing Black Lives Matter protesters for shutting down freeways earlier in the week to raise awareness about Clark’s killing.

Jonathan, a 39-year-old protester, wore a shirt that said, “Stephon Clark got shot too. End police violence.”

He declined to give his last name, but said: “Police shoot people at a far greater rate than mass shootings. ... Police disproportionately target people of color.”

He added of Clark, “He’s a victim of gun violence just as much as all these other people ... Disarmament has to include police.”

Police in Oakland also killed unarmed Oscar Grant in 2009, one of the high-profile killings of black men by law enforcement that helped spark national protests and Black a Lives Matter.

The March for our Lives organizers are weaponizing the NRA’s fear-mongering political videos, playing them before speeches as a sign of what they’re fighting against.

Before rally organizer and Parkland student Sarah Chadwick spoke earlier in the rally, she was introduced with a video that juxtaposed clips of NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch’s “Your Time is Up” video, an attack on entertainers, media outlets, and the athletes taking a knee to protest police violence, with Chadwick’s parody of that same video.

The cuts back and forth, between the high school activists who just survived a school shooting, and Loesch, a longtime conservative radio host and Fox News commenter, could not be sharper, and the high school students seem to relish juxtaposing their passionate, goofy activism agains the apocalyptic rhetoric the National Rifle Association has used for decades.

D’Angelo McDade, a student from Chicago, takes the stage. He describes himself as a “victim and victor” of gun violence.

“When will we as a nation learn that we are not here to fight against one another, but we are here to fight for life and peace,” McDade says.

“Violence cannot drive out violence, only peace can do that. Poverty cannot drive out poverty, only resources can do that. Death cannot drive out death, only pro-active life can do that.”

He is talking about how he and his community are survivors of gun violence, and also survivors of having a lack of community resources and government support.

The mile and a half stretch down the side of Central Park may have become familiar ground for protesting New Yorkers since their least favorite resident became president in 2016, writes Max Benwell in New York.

But they joined the March for Our Lives with just as much energy and anger as they had for last year’s Women’s March and last April’s March for Science.

After a snowstorm two days earlier, the sun had decided to join them. It brought a sunny disposition to a demonstration that was as somber as it was uplifting, depending where you looked.

In some pockets people danced and beat drums, while in others the names of murdered students were held up, next to small children with signs demanding protection.

Teenage girls with signs plastered with Spongebob memes mixed with older protesters, babies in prams and cute dogs. On the sidelines, one group of elderly women distributed song sheets that featured We Shall Not Be Moved and Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Our Land.

However the impromptu “Hey hey, ho ho, the NRA has got to go” proved to be the most popular chant of the day.

The column of demonstrators started at 86th Street and proceeded down to 61st. Toward the finish line, the Trump International Tower loomed, and was met with a long stream of “Vote him out!”

One man held up a copy of the latest Time magazine, with the trailblazing Florida activists Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg on its cover, while explaining to his female companions why he didn’t vote.

“Silence is violence,” one of them shot back, putting a quick end to his speech.

Tens of thousands of marchers passed Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in a respectful silence at the conclusion of Parkland’s March for Our Lives, writes Richard Luscombe, some laying flowers and weeping at the memorials still in place outside for the victims.

The tiny city of Parkland, population 31,500, was swamped by the sheer magnitude of today’s event, with busloads of marchers coming from all over South Florida. Road closures meant lengthy walks in 80F temperatures for many.

Rebecca Price-Taylor, of neighbouring Margate, was emotional as she walked by the school with her daughters Vilani, 11, Veronica, 10, Vivian, 8, and Vanessa, 7.

“My daughters are only a few years from high school, and I don’t want them cowering in the corner of a classroom waiting to be murdered,” she said.

“Enough really is enough. No more of these weapons of war.”

“Our pain makes us family,” said Alex King, a student at North Lawndale College Prep in Chicago.

The 17-year-old is also part of the new anti-gun violence group, Good Kids Mad City.

He spoke about the death of his nephew and how it drove him to do bad things.

“From my colleagues and friends, I found help to come out of a dark place,” he said.

He acknowledged that not everyone has that available and that more resources need to be made available to address the systemic issues that help perpetuate gun violence.

King ended his speech by leading the crowd in his family’s clapping tradition – an impressive feat given the crowd’s enormous size.

“This is a moment of history that I want to be part of,” pop star Miley Cyrus, who sang onstage earlier, told Parkland special correspondent Nikhita Nookala. “This is what Happy Hippie, my foundation is: young people changing the way history is written before us.”

Updated

Sam Fuentes, who was injured in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and still has shrapnel in her face, was just on stage.

The 18-year-old’s speech was briefly interrupted by an upset stomach, but Fuentes continued her remarks resilient as ever: “I just threw up on international television and it feels great.”

She then led the crowd in a rendition of Happy Birthday in honor of Nicholas Dworet, who was killed in the shooting. He would’ve turned 18 today and many of the Parkland students have mentioned him in their remarks.

Relatives of victims of the 1996 Dunblane school massacre in Scotland were among hundreds of people who protested outside the US Consulate in Edinburgh on Saturday as part of a campaign for greater gun control in the US.

The shooting, which killed 16 five and six year olds along with their teacher, led the UK to bring in some of the strictest firearms legislation in the world, outlawing private ownership of most handguns. Gun massacres have been almost unknown in the UK since.

Speakers at the Edinburgh rally, held in solidarity with today’s march, included Jack and Ellie Crozier, whose sister Emma was killed in the Dunblane shooting, and Ali Ross, whose sister Joanna also died.

They read a letter of support to those affected by the Parkland tragedy. The letter, first published on the 22nd anniversary of the Dunblane shooting, stated: “Wherever you march, whenever you protest, however you campaign for a more sensible approach to gun ownership, we will be there with you in spirit.”

Catherine Wilson, who lost her sister Mhairi in Dunblane, also took part in the event, reading her poem For Parkland/The Public I. “I am so overwhelmed and incredibly impressed by the teenagers in America who are walking out of schools and who are demonstrating today,” she said. “Today is a really important mix of both showing that anger and fighting against something that is incorrect, but also offering that support and that love really, to the students in America.”

This is a video message Dunblane relatives recorded for the US marchers:

Parkland student Nikhita Nookala has been speaking to Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of Martin Luther King Jr, and father of Yolanda King, who spoke at the march earlier today.

This is the first time in many many years that high school students have led, really, a movement— this is the start of a movement. Tomorrow, literally, nothing will happen. But over a great period of time, change can occur.

Rightwing website Breitbart has its own unique take on the march, while the Fox News website is giving it less prominence than many other US news sites.

Student Aalayah Eastmond was in the third Marjory Stoneman Douglas class room to be attacked by the gunman.

She says she is at the rally to speak for her classmates, as well as people killed in urban communities well before this teenager-led movement to end gun violence.

“We need change, now,” she says.

“All of our lives are important and all of our voices need to be heard.”

Aalayah says her uncle died in an act of gun violence in Brooklyn, 15 years ago.

She says yes, she is a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, but also: “Before this, I was a regular black girl. And after this, I am still black and still regular.”

Updated

Ryan Deitsch, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas, is on stage challenging the notion we should arm teachers with guns.

Instead, he says, teachers need to be armed with school supplies. And students need to be armed with facts and education.

He’s also challenged the notion that the school walk out protests have disrupted education.

“We are done hiding,” Deitsch said. “We are done being full of fear.”

“This is the beginning of the end. From here, we fight.”

He, like so many other people to take the stage today, is focusing on the midterm elections and voter registration.

“Register, educate, vote.”

Thousands gathered in Houston outside the office of senator Ted Cruz for the city’s March For Our Lives protest today.

Cruz received more money from gun rights groups than any other member of Congress in the 2016 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

He has repeatedly insisted gun control is not the solution to ending gun violence and supported arming teachers.

Activists wear red robes and white bonnets based on The Handmaid’s Tale before the March for Our Livesin downtown Houston, Texas.
Activists wear red robes and white bonnets based on The Handmaid’s Tale before the March for Our Livesin downtown Houston, Texas. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Diversity on stage

One of the most striking elements of the rally so far is how inclusive the speaker list has been, write Oliver Laughland and Jessica Reed in Washington.

As well as the now famous faces from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, the speakers have included young victims of gun violence from around America.

Seventeen-year-old Edna Chavez, from Manual Arts High in Los Angeles entered the stage with a raised fist and spoke powerfully about losing her brother to gun violence when she was a young child.

California high school student Edna Chavez speaks at the march.
California high school student Edna Chavez speaks at the march. Photograph: Paul Morigi/(Credit too long, see caption)

“I have learned to duck from bullets before I learned to read,” she told the crowd in Washington. She asked the crowd to repeat her brother’s name, leading to deafening chants of “Ricardo” on Pennsylvania Avenue.

She added: “Arming teachers will not work. More security in our schools does not work. Zero tolerance police do not work. They make us feel like criminals. We should feel supported & empowered in our schools.”

“La lucha sigue,” she said in Spanish - meaning the fight continues.

Trevon Bosley addresses the crowd in Washington as a friend holds up a picture of his murdered brother Terrell.
Trevon Bosley addresses the crowd in Washington as a friend holds up a picture of his murdered brother Terrell. Photograph: Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

Trevon Bosley, a high school student from Chicago led the crowd in a chant: “Everyday shootings are everyday problems.”

The teenager lost his brother to gun violence and told the crowd: “I’m here to speak for those youth who fear they may be shot while going to the gas station, the movies, the bus stop, to church or even to and from school.”

He added: “I’m here to speak for those Chicago youth who feel their voices have been silenced for far too long. And I’m here to speak on behalf of everyone who believes a child getting shot and killed in Chicago or any other city is still a not-acceptable norm.”

Eleven-year-old Christopher Underwood has also just finished addressing the rally. Underwood is from Ocean Hill in Brooklyn. When Christopher was five he lost his brother in a shooting. He passed away on his 15th birthday.

Underwood said he lost his childhood to the shooting.

“I would like to not worry about dying. But worry about math and play basketball with my friends.”

Underwood finished the speech by quoting from Martin Luther King Jnr, who he reminded the crowd was also a victim of gun violence.

Lois Beckett interviewed Christopher two years ago:

Updated

Jaclyn Corin, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, just brought on stage Martin Luther King Jr’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King.

“I have a dream that enough is enough,” Yolanda said. “And that this should be a gun free world, period.”

She then asks the crowd to repeat back her words:

“Spread the word”

“Have you heard?”

“All across the nation”

“We are going to be a great generation.”

She lead the chant three times, encouraging the crowd to repeat her words “so the whole world can hear.”

The Guardian’s Sam Levin is at the March for our Lives in Oakland, California.

Jennie Drummond, a 26-year-old high school teacher, said she came to the Oakland march, because the Parkland shooting has impacted her school and is something that has left some of her students feeing afraid.

“This was organized by the youth, but it’s important that they know the adults in their lives are behind them.”

Drummond said she has been forced to think about what she would do if a gunman showed up at her school: “There’s a lot more stress in my life,” she said, adding that she has made clear to her students: “I will be between them and an intruder.”

She said she is prepared to put her life on the line for students, but that it’s a terrifying prospect. She said she would like politicians to know: “I would like to not get shot at work.”

Ruby Perez, a 17-year-old student, said she came to show solidarity with the Parkland students: “We will fight so no kids have to go through this ... Our generation, we are not going to take it anymore. We are here to stand with them.”

“The big message is we need to stop hate and violence,” she added.

Maclaine Bamberger, 17, and Ruby Baden-Lasar, 17, said they go to a sheltered private school and wanted to be sure their community was engaged in the activism.

“This is something that unites us on all fronts all over the world,” said Baden-Lasar. “It’s really about safety in schools, in the streets, in concerts, everywhere ... It’s uniting us all in a sad way.”

Bamberger said the march was just the start: “This is teaching our generation of kids to be empowered and speak up. We are seeing people our age being the most amazing activists ... It’s giving us hope.”

Christopher Underwood, whose 14-year-old brother was fatally shot in 2012, says he lost his childhood to gun violence.

“At the time, I was only five-years-old,” Christopher, 11, said.

“I turned my pain and anger into action.”

Christopher ends his speech by quoting Martin Luther King Jr: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Our lives matter,” Christopher added.

The Guardian profiled Christopher in 2016:

Speaker and gun reform activist Zion Kelly, whose twin brother was shot dead last year, pictured with pop star Kanye West at the march in Washington
Speaker and gun reform activist Zion Kelly, whose twin brother was shot dead last year on his way home from a college prep class, pictured with pop star Kanye West at the march in Washington. Zion out-ran the same shooter hours earlier, and texted his twin to warn him about the walk home through the park. Photograph: handout

Updated

Matt Post, an 18-year-old from Montgomery County in Maryland, is speaking about the “cold inaction” of American lawmakers in regards to gun violence and the systemic issues that perpetuate it.

Post says politicians are: “sick with soullessness, but we are the cure.”

He is describing the youth as the “new, diverse face of inclusiveness” for the US.

Montgomery County student Matt Post speaks
Montgomery County student Matt Post speaks Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Eleven-year-old Naomi Wadler is next on stage.

She says she led a walk-out at her elementary school on 14 March, adding a minute to the 17 minute walk-out for each of the Parkland victims for Courtlin Arrington, a 17-year-old gun crime victim from Alabama.

Naomi said she was there to speak up for “the African-American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper, whose stories don’t lead on the evening news, the African-American women who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential.

“I’m here to say never again for those girls too. Everyone should value those girls too.”

She adds – in a reference to rightwing conspiracy theories about many of the students who have spoken up since the Parkland massacre – “People have said I’m too young to have these thoughts on my own … that I’m a tool of some nameless adult. It’s not true. My friends and I might still be 11 but we know life isn’t equal for everyone and we know what is right and wrong.”

She says she has “seven short years” until she has the right to vote.

And she closes her short and powerful speech by quoting Toni Morrison: “If there’s a book that you want to read and it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.”

My colleague Lois Beckett interviewed Naomi last week.

Updated

Former president Barack Obama has tweeted his support for the March For Our Lives.

Donald Trump, who is at his golf club in Florida, has not yet tweeted about the protests.

The White House said in a statement this morning: “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today.”

Updated

Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg is on stage, where he posted a price tag to point out how much money Florida senator Marco Rubio has taken from the National Rifle Association.

Hogg has been one of the most prominent faces of the Parkland movement and his remarks today are focused on politics.

Hogg gestured to the US Capitol behind him and said: “This is not cutting it.”

He is encouraging people to register to vote and participate in election.

“Let’s put the USA over the NRA.”

“There are people trying to suppress your vote,” he says. “We say no more! When politicians send thoughts and prayers we say no more!

“I say to politicians : get your resumes ready!”

He ends the speech shouting: “We can and we will change the world.”

David Hogg speaks
David Hogg speaks Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Updated

Zion Kelly of Washington DC just spoke on behalf of people who face the threat of gun violence every time they walk to and from school.

His twin brother, Zaire, was shot on 20 Sep 2017.

Kelly became emotional talking about his brother, but in every pause, the crowd cheered him on in support.

Kelly’s family has proposed legislation, named after his brother, to create safe passage zones to and from schools and other activities.

“My name is Zion Kelly and just like you, I’ve had enough.”

Broadway superstars Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt are on stage, singing Found Tonight, a mashup of songs from Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.

The song was first released earlier this week and a portion of proceeds from the track will be donated to March for Our Lives.

The rally is a mix of live music performances, speeches and videos.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Alex Wind just left the stage after delivering a rousing speech.

“To those saying teenagers can’t do anything, I am here to say teenagers are the only ones who could have made this movement possible.”

“If teachers start packing heat, are they going to arm our pastors, ministers and rabbis?”

“For too long our government has been useless on this issue.”

“To all the politicians out there, if you take money from the NRA, you have chosen death.”

The speakers so far have been 19-years-old and younger.

A recurring theme of the march has been voting.

Between almost every speaker they crowd is chanting: “Vote them out! Vote them out!”

And the speakers taking the stage say it over and over again: they are ready do one thing: to vote all politicians who ignore them today out.

They are also ready to confront politicians and lobbyists not taking action (this was a message particularly strongly delivered to the press by David Hogg, the Parkland student who was been falsely described by the alt-right as a “crisis actor”).

Speaking to journalists this morning, Hogg said they would “continue to march in every state’s Capitol, across all states” to secure change. “Registering to vote is crucial,” he said. “You’re showing politicians you’re going to hold them accountable.”

To turn this into action, many volunteers are posted along the march to register voters, too. They’re targeting those who are of age, and talking to younger teenagers about the importance of casting their votes.

Updated

Edna Chavez, a 17-year-old from Los Angeles, spoke about efforts to reduce gun violence in Los Angeles.

“I am a youth leader. I am a survivor. I have lived in south central LA my entire life and have lost many loved ones to violence. This is normal.”

“I learned to duck from gun bullets before I could read.”

Chavez spoke about her brother, Ricardo, dying in a shooting.

“Ricardo was his name. Can you say it with me?” she said, inspiring the crowd to chant.

“I lost more than my brother that day, my hero. I also lost my mother, my sister and myself to that trauma and anxiety.”

“I carry that trauma with me everywhere I go.”

She talks about how gun violence has been customary in southern Los Angeles for decades.

“I am here today to honor Ricardo. I am here today to honor Stephon Clark (a black man fatally shot by police in Sacramento this week). I am here today to uplift my south LA community.”

Chavez advocates for restorative justice measures, mentorship programs, mental health resources, paid internships and job opportunities.

“Remember my name. Remember these faces. Remember us and how we’re making change.”

Updated

At the rally in Parkland, Florida, Stoneman Douglas students ended the speaking programme by reading out the names of the 17 victims of last month’s shooting,reports Richard Luscombe.

The speeches by student survivors and relatives of the victims were mostly non-political, with only occasional references to the NRA - but drawing boos when they did.

Tony Montalto, father of 14-year-old victim Gina, said his daughter was smart and was going to change the world. Now, he said, that was in her classmates’ hands, and those of politicians.

“We need action,” he said. “Some here today might be disappointed change has not come fast enough, but maybe one brick at a time is maybe the path that is needed. A marathon, not a sprint.”.

Tens of thousands attended the Parkland rally at the park where until last week memorials to the 17 victims were positioned.

Our special correspondents, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, have been speaking to more marchers in Washington.

“As far as growing up in Chicago being a Chicago native, it’s a lot of gun violence there,” David Bell, who is part of organization that fixes homes for the less fortunate, told Richard Doan. “There are kids, there are babies getting shot. Coming from that background [and] losing a lot of friends and family [and seeing] today all the events happening around the nation with the students [shows] what the future needs. [These] educated individuals, they are being killed, so we wanted to come to support because not only do we have our own problems at home, but our kids are our home. Eventually these kids are going to grow up and make a difference, but they can’t do that if they’re killed in a classroom.”

David Bell.
David Bell. Photograph: Richard Doan for the Guardian

“It is so profoundly uplifting to see so many people bound by our cause, and that’s what makes me optimistic for change” student activist Matt Post told Nikhita Nookala.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Jackie Corin. “Like this formulated on Cameron’s living room floor and to see millions of people around the world supporting us is unreal. I’m just so thankful.”

Paul McCartney is at the March for Our Lives protest in New York City.

In an interview with CNN, he appeared to reference the death of his formed bandmate John Lennon, who was fatally shot outside the Dakota in 1980. The New York march began next to the Dakota.

“One of my best friends was shot not far from where we are right now,” he said.

Updated

Marjory Stoneman Douglas senior Delaney Tarr just addressed the crowd - after chasing her speech across the stage when it blew away before she could start talking.

“We will continue to fight for our dead friends,” she said. She ran through the students’ demands, including background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

“When you give us an inch, that bump stocks ban, we will take a mile,” she said. “We are not here for breadcrumbs, we are here to lead.”

It is another powerful speech from the stage in Washington.

Updated

'We deserve to live a life without fear of being gunned down'

The second speaker, Trevon Bosley, just spoke on behalf of youth in Chicago.

“I’m here to speak for those Chicago youth who feel like their voices have been silenced for far too long.”

His brother, Terrell Bosley, was shot and killed in 2006 while leaving church. A woman held a picture of Terrell next to his brother while he spoke.

Bosley went on to mention the underlying issues that have perpetuated gun violence in Chicago including poverty, a lack of workforce development and funds being diverted to tourism instead of the city.

“It was caused by several problems we are still dealing with to this day,” Bosley said.

He says when the president talks about Chicago gun violence constantly without diverting funds to assist the city, gun violence will continue to be a problem.

“We deserve to live a life without fear of being gunned down,” he said.

Updated

Our special correspondents, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, have been speaking to more marchers and protest organizers in Washington.

“I’m watching Cameron speak right now, and I am so close to crying,” said Emma Gonzalez, one of the most well-known of the Parkland students. “I’m just so happy that this is really happening- This is the coolest moment of my life.”

“You know it’s overwhelming, but in a good way, because this is a show of unity and positivity in the best way possible,” MSD senior Delaney Tarr told Nikhita Nookala.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student Cameron Kasky just took the stage.

“Welcome to the revolution,” Kasky said. “It is a powerful and peaceful one because it is of, for and by the young people of this country.”

“Politicians, either represent the people or get out,” Kasky said.

He read out the list of students and staff who died at his school on 14 Feb.

The last name Kasky said was Nicholas Dworet, who would have turned 18 today.

Speakers begin in Washington

People have been rallying in the streets across the US, but the main March For Our Lives demonstration in Washington DC only just officially began.

Andra Day and Common are performing on the main stage to kick-off the event.

Updated

Jessica Reed adds from Washington:

Updated

My colleague Oliver Laughland is also at the march in Washington.

Our special correspondents, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, have been interviewing marchers in Washington.

“It means everything to be here,” Nicole Anderson told Lewis Mizen. “To not only fight for the lives lost but to fight for change. We are making history and I want to do everything in my power to be a part of it.”

Nicole Anderson
Nicole Anderson. Photograph: Lewis Mizen for the Guardian

“After the shooting, I was devastated like most of Douglas was,” MSD student Sarah Chadwick told Christy Ma. “I’m a type A kind of person though so I had to do something, otherwise it felt like I was letting people down.”

“This is a fight,” Ryan Deitsch, a senior at MSD, said. “It’s a long fight. It isn’t over yet. We can march all we want but until we march to their doorsteps, knock on the door, nothing will change.”

Nikhita Nookala has been speaking to US Congressman Ted Deutch. “Here’s the moment I’m really proud of,” he said.”Someone came up to me and asked: ‘Is your last name Deutch?’ and then: ‘Are you related to that Ryan kid?’”

The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports from Parkland, Florida, where he has been closely following the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting since it took place a little over a month ago.

Max Schachter, father of one of the victims, Alex, a 14-year Stoneman Douglas marching band musician, addressed the crowd at the rally.

Schacter broke down in tears as he recalled how his son enjoyed playing basketball with his older brother, and teaching his little sister “to become a better trombone player” and that on February 13 he was like any other parent, wanting his children to be happy and getting good grades.

Then the Valentine’s Day shooting happened.

“Since the day that changed my life, I will not stop fighting for change,” he said.

“The 17 beautiful angels would not stop fighting until make this world a better and safer place.”

Schachter has set up two foundations in his son’s memory, the Alex Schachter scholarship fund for the MSD marching band that his son loved.

The second is the Safe Schools for Alex foundation.

“Alex’s death could have been prevented, all the lives could have,” he said.

Schachter said the MSD students’ campaign for gun reform had inspired him.

“The beautiful lives lost have not and will not be in vain,” he said.

Updated

In 1992, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student was shot dead on his way to a Halloween party in Louisiana.

Yoshi Hattori’s parents have been campaigners for stricter gun laws in the US ever since and on Saturday hosted a March for Our Lives rally in the Japanese city of Nagoya.

The Guardian’s Daniel Hurst reports from Tokyo:

“I was moved by the high school students challenging the government on the gun control issues,” Mieko Hattori, Yoshi’s mother, told the Guardian. “I felt something was changing at the bottom. I hope adults who have common sense take actions with them for the US to be safer country. The future is for the young.”

Mieko Hattori and her husband Masaichi Hattori added in an emailed statement: “Adults should treasure the wish of young people for their peaceful future.”

After Yoshi’s death, his parents gathered about 1.7 million Japanese and 250,000 American signatures on a petition calling for action. President Bill Clinton met the Hattoris in November 1993, and their campaign helped to build momentum for the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which introduced background checks for people buying firearms.

The Hattoris still recall Yoshi’s fascination with US culture – and his hope that America might one day become his “second home”. His student exchange experience was meant to last for a year, but was cut short after just two and a half months.

Our guns reporter Lois Beckett has been speaking to marchers in Washington DC.

Steve Craig, 64 and Maddie Craig, 21, from New Castle, PA

The father and daughter came to Washington to show their support for the Parkland students, and to advocate for a ban on assault weapons.

“I think the second amendment [right to bear arms] needs to be repealed and amended. I don’t think the right to own a gun should be unlimited,” Steve Craig said.

Maddie Craig said she thought social media had changed the gun control debate, allowing students to speak directly to each other and share their experiences. “For Columbine, there wasn’t that social media presence.” Now, she said, “You can hear every student’s opinion. There’s a lot more awareness of what’s going on across America.”

Maddie Craig, 21, and Steve Craig, 64, from New Castle, PA.
Maddie Craig, 21, and Steve Craig, 64, from New Castle, PA. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein for the Guardian

Alice Gambino, 42, from Silver Spring, MD

Alice Gambino’s two sons, ages 15 and 8, were too afraid to come to the rally, worried that the large crowds would attract “gun crazies”, and that there might be another act of violence.

“You don’t have to go. I’ll go for you,” she told them.

Gambino said this was her first protest for gun control. “I think I was waiting for someone else to do something,” she said.

“Seeing that the kids in the last attack had to rally themselves, I felt very guilty. We the parents should have already been in the streets and we shouldn’t have left until we made the change for them.”

March for Our LivesAlice Gambino, 42, from Silver Spring, Maryland.
Alice Gambino, 42, from Silver Spring, Maryland. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein for the Guardian

Sakeenah Dasti, 16, Amanah Dasti, 11 and Ruqaiyah Dasti, 17, from Gaithersburg, Maryland

“We haven’t forgotten what happened in Sandy Hook and Columbine and Virginia Tech. Those things happened a long time ago, and people tried putting them in the back of their minds, but we’re showing here that we haven’t forgotten about any of that,” said Ruqaiyah Dasti, 17.

The shooting that first affected her directly was Sandy Hook, she said. “I was very young,” she said. “I was nervous, I didn’t really understand what it was about. I remember being afraid.”

For Amanah Dasti, 11, it was “when it happened here.” There was a school shooting nearby in Maryland just this past week.

Sakeenah Dasti, 16, Amanah Dasti 11, and Ruqaiyah Dasti, 17, from Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Sakeenah Dasti, 16, Amanah Dasti 11, and Ruqaiyah Dasti, 17, from Gaithersburg, Maryland. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein for the Guardian

Updated

Here are some early images of the large crowds gathering in cities across the US – including snowy Indianapolis where the march is being held indoors.

Parkland students Leni Steinhardt, Brianna Fisher and Zoe Gordon were interviewed on MSNBC by Joy Reid earlier.

“I want to be able to be the people’s voice who unfortunately aren’t able to be here, the ones that don’t get to voice their opinions about this issue because they suffered from it,” said Zoe. “So I really want to be their voice and their megaphone and call out for change.”

Leni said: “We were just in New York just last week, doing a panel there, and a couple of students were coming up to us and saying you’re inspiring to us, we’re looking up to you, we’re going to fight with you, and I just tell them, first of all thank you, but we’re just students who want to create change, and we hope that they march along with us today.”

Leni and Brianna on the MSNBC with Joy Reed talking about their collaboration with the Guardian
Leni and Brianna on the MSNBC with Joy Reed talking about their collaboration with the Guardian. Photograph: Jane Spencer for the Guardian

Updated

In response to the renewed attention to the movement to combat gun violence in the US, youth organizers in Chicago and Baltimore formed a new organization: Good Kids Mad City.

The group of 1,500 teenagers is working to bring attention to the violence faced every day in inner cities and the systemic issues that perpetuate this violence.

In Chicago this morning, members rallied outside a hospital where people injured or killed in shootings on the city’s west side are treated.

“On the way here, I’ve been meeting people from all over and thats what I’ve been telling you all along that it’s not just Parkland and Douglas— It is going to affect everyone, and here they are.” - Diana Haneski, Media specialist at MSD, told Parkland student correspondent Nikhita Nookala.

Suzanna Barna sends this view of the crowd from the roof terrace of the Newseum, the media museum in Washington.

My colleague Jessica Reed is also at the march in Washington.

This is Isabel, 16, and Evelyn, 11, from Chicago. They both came to DC to be part of the “bigger march”, and they’re urging all adults around them to pick up the phone and call their representatives. “People in my age group ... all we can do right now is march and urge adults to make a change”, she says.

Evelyn and Isabel were standing next to Soheir, 71, originally from Egypt, and John, her Republican-turned-Democrat husband (he is 72, and a Vietnam veteran).

John turned the teenagers, and said with force: “[Young people] should tell all adults that instead of them being on Facebook, they should go and vote! And if you can’t show up at your representative’s door, you should call them!”

The teenagers agreed - they can’t wait to vote, they said.

Still no comment yet from Donald Trump, who is in Florida, apparently at his golf club, today.

But deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters issued this statement:

We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their first amendment rights [right to free speech] today.

Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the president’s, which is why he urged Congress to pass the Fix Nics and Stop School Violence Acts, and signed them into law.

Additionally, on Friday, the Department of Justice issued the rule to ban bump stocks following through on the president’s commitment to ban devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns.

Staff carry trays of coffee at Mar-a-lago while the President is in residence
Staff carry trays of coffee at Mar-a-lago while the President is in residence Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Melissa Falkowski, a journalism teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, sends this video of the crowd in Washington.

Her students are continuing to interview marchers.

“I lost my daughter to gun violence four years ago,” Paula Cross of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, told Rebecca Schneid. “There are so many things that need to be done that aren’t being done. I came to support the movement you kids are starting.”

Paula Cross of Willoughby Hills, Ohio
Paula Cross of Willoughby Hills, Ohio Photograph: Rebecca Schneid for the Guardian

“Kids like me shouldn’t be at school and be worrying about dying,” said 17-year-old Samanthan Konigsberg of Dalton high school in New York City. “Ninety-six people a day die from gun violence. Why do we have to be worrying about getting shot instead of SATs and Prom? It’s ruining our childhood.”

Samanthan Konigsberg of Dalton high school in New York City

“I went to the women’s march a year ago and that was got me started with activism,” said 17-year-old Leah Campbell, who goes to Severna Park High School in Maryland.

“We will be able to vote soon, and unless they start taking action, they’re not going to be in office much longer,” Aja Mathis, an 11th grader from New Jersey, told Christy Ma.

“I’m here to fight for change in gun regulations,” Alexx Vieux told Lewis Mizen. “It means the world to be a part of a movement that has sparked hope across the nation. As a survivor it is my responsibility to make change and prevent this from happening in the future.”

Some long-time gun violence activists are hailing how the Parkland teenagers have reinvigorated the movement, while also pushing for the momentum to be delivered to black and Latino communities – which are disproportionately affected by gun violence.

This week, representatives from those communities gathered at the Urban Gun Violence Town Hall in Atlanta.

The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reported on the efforts to bring the momentum of the movement to end gun violence to the communities that need it most:

Activists came from inner-cities across the country – from Chicago, Oakland, New York City, Miami and beyond – to discuss whether the desire for gun reform can be channelled towards preventing everyday gun violence.

“Background checks and assault weapons bans – this doesn’t solve all the gun violence. It doesn’t solve why people want to take up a gun,” Mosley told the Guardian. “I’m so fearful that once this banner goes up of ‘mission accomplished’ that we won’t talk about high unemployment rates, or how people can’t find a job. How they’re told that every door of opportunity is closed for them but prison.”

Updated

Meanwhile Richard Luscombe is in Parkland, Florida, at the scene of the shooting, where a march is also expected today.

While classmates are rallying in Washington, thousands more Stoneman Douglas survivors, their families and supporters are among tens of thousands gathering in Parkland this morning to march to the scene of last month’s shooting.

Officials have predicted that anywhere between 20,000 and 40,000 people will listen to the speeches from the amphitheatre at Pine Trails Park before walking the mile south to Stoneman Douglas high school.

It’s an overwhelming number for a city with a population barely above 30,000, and the logistics of such an event have been a challenge. But to the students who have remained to march in honour of their 17 lost friends and teachers, there was never a question of being anywhere else.

“Parkland is a family. And when our family is hurting, we all come together,” said Liam Kiernan, a 15-year-old MSD 10th grader. “We become stronger because we feel we’re all one person.

“We all have that same desire of change because 17 lives were taken for no reason and we need to come together more than ever. This shows how much of a family we are.”

Kiernan, 15, is walking with his father, and is hoping to link up with a number of his classmates. He says the mood inside the school since they returned to classes two weeks after the massacre has been sombre, but that students and teachers have been determined in the lead up to today.

“Everybody has been been kind of solemn but everyone’s come together at the hardest of times, really showed strength and love,” he said. “It’s one of the hardest times of all of our lives, but we’re going to come together. Some of my teachers have gotten tattoos, they’ve been so amazing. You need all the help you can get.”

The message from today, Kiernan says, is that the Parkland students will be heard. “What we want to tell everyone is we’re still here, we’re still resilient after everything that happened. Our message is we don’t want this to ever happen again. The first time should have been the last. We want to show the whole world that hey, we’re here, and this needs to stop.

“At Columbine, they didn’t have the technology to get their voices heard. At Sandy Hook the victims were too young. In Parkland the kids have social media, instagram, snapchat, these new sources that they can come to and just speak and tell of what they’re feeling from their hearts. That has connected with a lot of the world, and everyone’s started listening because they can connect with these students that are hurting.”

Updated

Our special correspondents from Parkland will be interviewed on MSNBC shortly talking about their collaboration with the Guardian and the anti-gun march today.

You can listen to it live here.

Updated

Outside the brand new US embassy in London, hundreds of expats, study abroad students and allies stood in solidarity with today’s march.

Holding placards painted with phrases such as “I’d rather my teachers had pencils,” the protestors chanted “Books not Bullets” and “Never again” while gathered on a grass embankment outside the embassy as police looked on.

A minutes silence was held in honour of the victims of mass shootings.

The solidarity rally was organised by three American students, Stephanie Thompson, Stephen Paduano and David Scollan, who are studying at the London School of Economics.

In an interview for Mashable, Thompson said that her home state of Colorado has seen some of the most infamous mass shootings including the Aurora theatre shooting and the Columbine School shooting, adding that “most Americans have similar stories of their communities and lives being affected by this senseless violence”.

“My frustration with inaction has just increased since being abroad,” said Thompson. “Since arriving in London six months ago there have been three mass shootings – Las Vegas, NV, Sutherland Springs, TX, and Parkland, FL.”

This left her feeling “hopeless being far from home and not being able to change anything” but since Parkland things had shifted.

Elsewhere in the UK, similar rallies are taking place in Edinburgh, Belfast and Newcastle. And protesters are turning out in Dublin and Cork in Ireland.

  • This post was amended on 26 March to make clear that Dublin and Cork are in Ireland.
A ‘die in’ during a solidarity rally with March for Our Lives outside the US embassy in London.
A ‘die in’ during a solidarity rally with March for Our Lives outside the US embassy in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Updated

Our special correspondents from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school newspaper have been speaking to Robert Runcie, school superintendent of their local area, Broward County.

“I think the most important piece is how Stoneman Douglas students have driven and impacted a dawn of a national movement,” Runcie said. “I think this generation may prove to be the greatest generation.”

Robert Runcie, school superintendent of Broward County.
Robert Runcie, school superintendent of Broward County. Photograph: Nikhita Nookala for the Guardian

Others have been explaining to the students why they are marching today.

“It’s important for people to realize that we are all affected, our whole community was affected,” said 18-year-old Emily Malcom. “I’m marching for change, i’m marching for my whole community. Hopefully people will see that we won’t stop anytime soon.”

“I think that legislatures should be aware that the next generation of voters is right in front of them so if they don’t want to promote change then we will vote for change,” said 15-year-old Jordan Khayyami, a student at MSD.

“I am here to respect the 17 lives that were lost at my school on 14 February,” said Helena Denny. “I am here to fight in the name of the 100,000 victims, including students, parents, and teachers who die every year due to gun violence.”

Helena Denny at the anti-gun march in Washington.
Helena Denny at the anti-gun march in Washington. Photograph: Lewis Mizen for the Guardian

“They wanted to come to the march and make the signs so we worked hard to come here,” said Kelly Recker of West Hartford, Connecticut, of his children. “Hopefully this is something they are going to look back on and this is going to be a moment of change.”

Parkland special correspondents Rebecca Schneid and Leni Steinhardt have been speaking to marchers in Washington.

“My friends were murdered in school,” said Joey Mondelli, a senior in high school. “I have to be here for them. This can never happen.”

“People underestimate our ability to organize as teenagers,” said 17-year-old Tyah Roberts. “We aren’t to be taken likely. We are a force to be reckoned with.”

“What inspired me to make this poster was actually being angry at the world and then I realized that being angry at everyone isn’t going to change anything so I decided to go a different route,” said Taylor Allen, 20, from Parkland.

“If you don’t think gun control will make a difference I’ll still give you a hug but hopefully we can come to an agreement.”

The staff of the student newspaper of Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, where a massacre last month led to today’s marches, are covering the Washington march as special correspondents for the Guardian.

Here are the Eagle Eye staff planning for the march from their hotel room on Friday night:

Eagle Eye staff planning for the Washington march from their hotel room on Friday night

Today, they huddled for a group hug before the march:

At protests across the country, volunteers have set up voter registration booths.

Many of these efforts are backed by HeadCount, a non-partisan voter registration group that installs voter registration drives at music festivals and concerts in the US.

The group’s executive director, Andy Bernstein, told Billboard it was the first time the group has partnered with a march.

“Hearing [student activist] Cameron Kasky and the powerful speech from [student activist] Emma Gonzalez on CNN, where she ended with a call for people to register to vote, made it obvious that it was time for HeadCount to engage,” Bernstein said.

Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump leaving the White House to start his journey to Mar-a-Lago on Friday.
Donald Trump leaving the White House to start his journey to Mar-a-Lago on Friday. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

If marchers are hoping to take their message of gun reform directly to Donald Trump, they will be disappointed.

The president has headed down to his Florida bolthole, Mar-a-Lago, for the weekend. He has no public events on his schedule and seems to be at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

Trump has flip-flopped on gun control, proposing arming teachers while backing away from earlier support for raising age limits after meeting with senior figures from the National Rifle Association, the powerful US pro-gun lobby group.

On Friday, however, the US justice department proposed rule changes that would effectively ban bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like a machinegun. Bump stocks were used by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock to kill 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

Trump has also proposed extreme risk protection orders, which would provide law enforcement and family members with a legal way to petition a court to temporarily remove an unstable person’s guns, and block them from buying new ones.

In backing away from the proposal to raise the legal age to buy certain guns, Trump said part of the reason was that there was “not much political support (to put it mildly)” for the policy.

That may be true in Congress, but recent polls of US adults have found that more than two-thirds of respondents favor raising the legal age to buy guns.

Comprehensive background checks, which Trump is not backing despite earlier promising to do so, are even more popular.

A recent Monmouth University poll found that 83% of Americans support requiring comprehensive background checks for all gun purchasers, including private sales between two individuals.

Even among NRA members, 69% support comprehensive background checks, the poll found.

That indicates opposition is largely confined to the leadership of the NRA and the Republican party.

Updated

It might seem strange for March For Our Lives protests to take place abroad, particularly in countries with much stricter gun control laws, but there are protests planned in at least 37 other countries.

Those protests were organized by Americans based in those countries or by locals with connections to the US.

Three Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school students attended the demonstration in Tel Aviv, where they were on spring break, according to the Times of Israel.

One of the students, Eden Hebron, told the rally about seeing her close friend killed when her English classroom was attacked.

“I am still in disbelief but I will not allow anyone else to see the things I saw, to prepare for your final seconds of life like I did,” Hebron told the rally.

The Guardian has been collaborating with the staff of the Eagle Eye, the school newspaper of Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, where a massacre last month led to today’s marches.

On Friday, student editors took control of the Guardian’s website and published a series of articles, including their manifesto of demands, with a call to ban the sale of high velocity semi-automatic weapons, expand background checks, and raise the minimum purchase age of rifles to 21 high on the list.

Members of the Eagle Eye’s editorial staff have travelled to Washington and will cover the march as special correspondents for the Guardian.

They are already in place and tweeting pictures and messages.

March for Our Lives: a rally for gun control

Today in Washington DC and more than 830 places worldwide, people of all ages will come together to demand solutions to gun violence in America.

Parkland takeover

Students who survived the school shooting last month in Parkland, Florida, sparked the event after 17 of their teachers and classmates were killed last month by a former student armed with an AR-15 rifle he had legally purchased.

Embed

Parkland survivors will be at the vanguard of the demonstration in Washington, where more than 500,000 people are expected to protest, starting at noon.

This week over a dozen journalism students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, where the massacre took place, took over the Guardian US website, commissioning and writing pieces about the gun debate. They will be reporting live for us from Washington today.

Embed

Guardian reporters Lois Beckett and Oliver Laughland will also be sending dispatches from DC. And Richard Luscombe in Florida and Sam Levin in Oakland will be reporting from the marches there.

Stay tuned here for live coverage of the marches in Washington and elsewhere throughout the day.

Updated

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