‘March for Our Lives’: students and supporters rally against gun violence across the globe

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – They were met with cold and wet weather here in Vancouver, but those taking part in the March for Our Lives event didn’t let the weather slow them down.

They were determined to show their support for students demanding better gun laws in the US, and marched from Jack Poole Plaza to the US consulate on West Pender to call for change.

Students and Americans showed up by the hundreds to take part in the Vancouver march, holding signs critical of the US National Rifle Association and lawmakers.

Tasha Clarke is a Vancouverite who happened to have spent her final high school year at the very Florida school that was the scene of the shooting on Valentine’s Day.

She says she couldn’t let this occasion go by without getting involved.

“No child should ever have to go to school and feel afraid,” she tells NEWS 1130. “And I’m a strong advocate of education, I just feel that the government needs to do a better job of securing the schools.”

Among the expats in the crowd, one man says he supports the young people who are spear-heading the discussion about better gun control, but admits he’s frustrated by the status quo.

“It’s just ridiculous that we can’t have any change at all because there are people convincing us that everything is a threat to the Second Amendment in the United States, when really all we’re asking for is a sensible alternative.”

An American woman’s sign used an expletive to describe the US National Rifle Association.

“The US government is complicit in this. They’re not working for the people, and haven’t in a long time. They are behooven to the NRA and other lobbyists.”

Shelby is a 15-year-old who attends Terry Fox Secondary in Port Coquitlam. She was holding a sign saying she fears for her friends’ lives.

“There have been a lot of times when I have heard about shootings in the US and I’ve been afraid for their lives, even if the shooting isn’t directly where they are.”

Seventeen-year-old Ayeesha Beg helped organize the event, and says if adults aren’t willing to affect change, it’s up to the voters of tomorrow to lead the charge.

“Because a lot of people in power are not addressing the issue and they’re choosing to ignore it so, we as youth, need to stand up and people need to know that this is what we believe in and this is what we stand for.”

Beg says gun violence runs deep within Canadian society as well, a point that was echoed across the country.

In Toronto, marchers carried signs protesting both gun violence in the United States and recent shootings that have plagued that city, pointing out that Canada is not immune to tragedy.

More than a dozen Canadian cities hosted marches to call for stricter gun control laws in both countries.

Both Montreal and Toronto saw several hundred people join local gatherings in support of the massive March for Our Lives march in Washington, D.C.

In one of Montreal’s two marches, hundreds of protesters swayed together singing ‘Glory, Hallelujah’ before setting off towards the city’s US Consulate.

Ellen Gozansky Malka, a Montrealer now living in Parkland, told the crowd that two of her children were at the school during the shooting and saw things no child should see.

Further west in Calgary, hundreds of young people and supporter walked to show their support and call for gun law changes, some chanting “books not guns” and “go away NRA”.

Gun control rally goes silent for victims

More than 800 marches took place across the United States, with dozens more held around the world in solidarity with those gathering in the US capital.

Thousands of people took to streets across that country, summoned to action by student survivors of the Florida school shooting last month, which left 17 dead.

“If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking,” David Hogg, a survivor who has emerged as one of the student leaders of the movement, told the roaring crowd of demonstrators at the rally in Washington.

He warned: “We will get rid of these public servants who only care about the gun lobby.”

Large rallies also unfolded in such cities as Boston; New York; Chicago; Houston; Fort Worth, Texas; and Minneapolis.

Protesters denounced the National Rifle Association and its allies and complained that they are scared of getting shot in school and tired of inaction by grown-ups after one mass shooting after another.

They called for such measures as a ban on high-capacity magazines and assault-type rifles like the one used by the Florida killer, tighter background checks and school security, and a raising of the age to buy guns.

“I’m really tired of being afraid at school,” said Maya McEntyre, a 15-year-old high school freshman from Northville, Michigan, who joined a march by thousands in Detroit. “When I come to school, I don’t want to have to look for the nearest exit.”

She added: “I want to get to the problem before it gets to me.”

A large event was planned in Parkland, Florida, the site of the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead. Protesters chanted in support of stronger gun laws as the neared the Parkland school, but as they passed the building they went silent to honour those who died there.

Some speakers called for bans on the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that authorities say suspect Nikolas Cruz used in the massacre. Others called for more funding to install bulletproof doors and windows in classrooms. Some of those killed and wounded were shot through doors.

Calls for greater gun control even came from across the Atlantic Ocean, with demonstrators gathering in cities like Paris, where a rally was held near the Eiffel Tower to demand that US politicians “protect children, not guns!”

That gathering came as France itself was shaken after four people were killed Friday in an extremist attack. Investigators are trying to determine how the gunman got his weapon, since French gun laws are much stricter than those in the US.