Thousands gather in National Mall and across the United States on Saturday for a new push for gun control following the deadly mass shootings from Uvalde, Texas to Buffalo, New York, which activists say should force Congress to act. “Enough is enough,” Columbia District Mayor Muriel Bowser told the second March for Our Lives rally in her hometown. “I speak as mayor, as mom, and I speak for the millions of Americans and mayors of America who are urging Congress to do its job. And its job is to protect us, to protect our children from gun violence.” Speakers after speakers in Washington called on senators, who are seen as a major obstacle to the legislation, to act or face a vote of absence from their duties, especially given the shock to the nation’s conscience after the deaths of 19 children and two Teacher on May 24 at Robb Elementary. School in Uvalde. “If our government can do nothing to stop the killing and beheading of 19 children at their own school and beheading them, it is time to change who is in government,” said David Hogg, a survivor of the shooting. 2018 that killed 17 students. and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. A co-founder of March For Our Lives, which was formed after that shooting and held its first rally in Washington shortly afterwards, Hog led the crowd shouting “Vote for them.” Another Parkland survivor and co-founder of the group, X Gonzalez, made a passionate, blasphemous appeal to Congress for change. “They are killing us,” he shouted and begged Congress to “act at your age, not the size of your shoe.” Yolanda King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and action “. Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the Parkland shooting, called on students “to refrain from going back to school until our elected leaders stop escaping the crisis of armed violence in America and take action to save our lives “. Hundreds gathered in an amphitheater in Parkland, where Debra Hixon, whose husband, athletic director Chris Hixon, died in the shooting, said it was “very easy” for young men to shop and buy weapons. “Going home with an empty bed and an empty seat at the table is a constant reminder that he is gone,” said Hixon, who now serves on the school board. “We did not stop making memories, sharing dreams and living together. President Joe Biden, who was in California when the rally began in Washington, said his message to protesters was “go ahead” and added that he was “mildly optimistic” about legislative negotiations to address armed violence. Biden recently addressed a passionate speech to the nation in which he called for many steps, including raising the age limit for buying assault weapons. In Brooklyn, New York, Mayor Eric Adams, who campaigned to curb violence in the nation’s largest city, has joined state Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing the National Rifle Union, leading activists to the Brooklyn Bridge. “Nothing happens in this country until the young people get up – not the politicians,” said James. The call for change was attended by hundreds of people who gathered in a park outside the courthouse in Portland, Maine, before crossing the Old Port and gathering outside City Hall. At one point they shouted: “Eh, re, re, ERA, how many children must die today.” John Wuesthoff, a retired lawyer in Portland, said he was waving an American flag during the fight as a reminder that gun control is not “anti-American.” “It’s very American to have sensible regulations to save the lives of our children,” he said. The passion for the issue was clear in Washington when a young man jumped the roadblock and tried to rush to the scene before being stopped by security. The incident caused short panic as people began to disperse. Organizers had hoped the second March for Our Lives rally would draw up to 50,000 people to the Washington Monument, although the crowd seemed closer to 30,000. The 2018 event attracted more than 200,000 people, but the focus this time was on smaller marches in about 300 locations. The youth-led movement that emerged after the Parkland shooting successfully pushed the Republican-dominated state government of Florida to introduce sweeping gun control changes. The group did not agree with this nationally, but insisted on supporting arms restrictions since then, as well as participating in voter registration. Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of armed violence pressured lawmakers and testified at the Capitol this week. Among them was Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old girl who survived the Robb Elementary shooting. She described to lawmakers how she covered herself with the blood of a dead classmate so as not to be shot. Parliament passed bills to raise the age limit for the purchase of semi-automatic weapons and to enact federal laws on the “red flag”. A bipartisan senator was hoping to reach an agreement this week on a framework for addressing the issue, and talks were held on Friday, but no agreement was announced. —— Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York, David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Chris Megerian in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
