March For Our Lives: Americans hold rallies to demand end to gun violence

Following the upsurge in incidents of shootings in various states in the US, hundreds of thousands of Americans flooded the streets on Saturday in protest against gun violence.

No fewer than 20 shootings have been recorded in the US in 2018, giving rise to the fierce debate calling for gun control.

The most recent shooting occurred on Tuesday, when an armed student shot two others at Great Mills High School, Southern Maryland, and last month, a gunman killed 17 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida.

The rallies were organised to call on the US congress to enact stricter gun control laws to end the nation’s two-decade stretch of campus shootings.

Reacting to the wave of protests, the White House said keeping children safe is a top priority of President Donald Trump.

“We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their first amendment rights today,” the statement read.

“Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the president’s, which is why he urged Congress to pass the Fix NICS and STOP School Violence Acts, and signed them into law.”

Speaking to the gathering in Washington, Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King, said she has a dream that “this should be a gun-free world”.

“My father had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the colour of their skins but by the content of their character,” Yolanda, 9, said.

“I have a dream that enough is enough. And that this should be a gun-free world. Period.”