It comes after 19 children and two teachers were killed last month at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, but there have been many other examples of mass shootings. In Washington, D.C., the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. Yolanda King said the country was at a turning point and laws needed to be changed. “This time is different because it is not politics,” he said. “It’s a matter of ethics. Not right and left, but right and wrong, and that means more than just thoughts and prayers. It means courage and action.” Despite the rain in the country’s capital, thousands gathered at the National Mall holding placards, including one that read: “Children are not replaced, senators are. Vote.” A middle school girl carried a sign that read, “I want to feel safe at school.” Colombia’s mayor Muriel Bowser told a rally in her hometown: “Enough is enough. “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.” The March For Our Lives team, formed by survivors of the 2018 shooting that killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, organized the rallies. “If our government can do nothing to prevent 19 children from being killed and massacred at their own school and beheaded, it is time to change who is in government,” said co-founder David Hogg. US President Joe Biden, who was in California when the rally began in Washington, said his message to protesters was “go ahead,” adding that he was “mildly optimistic” about legislative negotiations to address armed violence. . The House of Representatives passed bills to raise the age limit for the purchase of semi-automatic weapons and to enact federal laws on the “red flag”. Read more: More than 700 people killed in US shooting by Texas school shooting However, such initiatives have traditionally been halted or greatly weakened in the Senate. Democrat and Republican senators were hoping to reach an agreement this week on a framework for addressing the issue and had further talks Friday, but no agreement was announced.
