Latest Weather Information

 

The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Source: 

Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:41 PM

Home Weather Local Our View State National World Faith

"March For Our Lives" Gun Control Rally To Take Place Across Nation's Capital Today

People from around the world are expected to come together Saturday for the March for Our Lives gun control rally organized by the students of the Florida high school impacted by a deadly school shooting last month.

The primary march is slated to take place in Washington, D.C., on Pennsylvania Avenue at 12 p.m. EST. Some 500,000 people were expected to attend.

In addition to Washington, D.C., some 800 sister marches were also being planned in London, Tokyo, Sydney, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and the city where the shooting occurred: Parkland, Florida.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organized the rally following the deadly school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, that left 17 people dead. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, 19, used a legally purchased an AR-15 assault rifle to carry out the shooting. The students hope the rally will push lawmakers to pass legislation on gun control. Some students said the ultimate goal of the grassroots movement is to inspire people to vote in November for lawmakers wiling to reform gun control.

While the activists “support the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, as set forth in the United States Constitution,” they also have a list of demands, urging members of Congress to pass laws to end the sale of high-capacity magazines, improve background checks, and more safety measures.

"The high-schoolers and the college students are sick of this normalcy in this environment that we live in where we have to live with mass shootings and code red drills," said Alex Wind, a junior at Stoneman Douglas, told the Associated Press.

“It’s going to be very revolutionary,” Sheryl Acquaroli told The Guardian. “We are going to change laws there, and I want to be part of that change.”

Some of the teenagers have pulled all-nighters organizing the event that will come together Saturday. Celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato are expected to march alongside students in Washington. Cyrus, Grande, Hudson, Lovato, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt were also expected to perform.

The Washington Post reported protesters started filing into Washington, D.C., this week and held tailgate parties, concerts, dinners and sign-making events on Friday. The New England Patriots lent its team plane to Parkland students to travel to the city for the march. The team’s owner, Robert Kraft, contacted the school offering the use of the plane. Delta Air Lines also donated two planes to the students to ensure safe and fast travel.

o