In the capital, March for Our Lives (MFOL) organizers estimated that 40,000 people had gathered at the National Mall near the Washington Monument under occasional light rain. The gun safety team was founded by students who survived the 2018 massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Courtney Haggerty, a 41-year-old research librarian from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, traveled to Washington with her 10-year-old daughter, Cate, and her 7-year-old son, Graeme. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Hagerti said the shooting at a school in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when a gunman killed 26 people, mostly six and seven, came a day after her daughter’s first birthday. “He left me raw,” he said. “I can not believe he will be 11 years old and we continue to do that.” Kay Klein, a 65-year-old teacher educator from Fairfax, Virginia, who retired earlier this month, said Americans should vote for politicians who refuse to take part in the November midterm elections when congressional control is at stake. “If we really care about children and families, we have to vote,” he said.
‘ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTE’
A gunman in Uvalde, Texas killed 19 children and two teachers May 24, 10 days after another gunman killed 10 blacks at a Buffalo grocery store in New York in a racist attack. The shootings added a new dimension to the country’s ongoing debate over gun violence, although prospects for federal legislation remain uncertain given Republicans’ fierce opposition to any gun limits. A woman shouts as she holds a placard during a March for Our Arms Control Rally in Parkland, Florida, USA, June 11, 2022. REUTERS / Marco Bello read more In recent weeks, a bipartisan Senate negotiating team has pledged to reach an agreement, though it has not yet reached an agreement. Their efforts are focused on relatively modest changes, such as motivating states to pass “red flag” laws that allow authorities to hold weapons by individuals considered dangerous. U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat who earlier this month called on Congress to ban guns, extend history checks and implement other measures, said he supported Saturday’s protests. read more “They are killing us,” said X Gonzalez, a Parkland survivor and co-founder of MFOL, in an emotional speech with survivors of other mass shootings. “You, Congress, have done nothing to prevent it.” Among other policies, MFOL has called for a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks for those trying to buy weapons, and a national licensing system to record gun owners. Biden told reporters in Los Angeles that he had spoken several times with Senator Chris Murphy, who is leading the Senate talks, and that negotiators remained “mildly optimistic.” The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a sweeping set of gun safety measures, but the bill has no chance of reaching the Senate, where Republicans see gun limits violating the right to a second amendment. US Constitution to carry weapons. Speakers at the Washington Rally included David Hogg, a Parkland survivor and co-founder of MFOL. Becky Pringle and Randi Weingarten, the presidents of the two largest teachers’ unions in the United States. and Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC Two Washington DC high school students, Silver Spring, Maryland – Zena Philip, 16, and Blaine Chirac, 15 – said they had never been to a demonstration before, but were motivated by the Texas shooting. “Just knowing there is a possibility that it could happen at my school terrifies me,” Phillip said. “A lot of kids numb this to the point where they feel hopeless.” Chirac said she supported more arms restrictions and that the issue extends beyond mass shootings to the daily report of armed violence. “People can get military-quality weapons in America,” he said. “It’s completely absurd.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Ted Hesson. Additional references by Trevor Hunnicutt in Los Angeles and Makini Brice in Washington. Writes Joseph Ax. Editing by Aurora Ellis and Daniel Wallis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
