Categories: Global

Tens of Thousands Rally for Stricter US Gun Laws

Thousands of protesters are gathering across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Texas.

Gun safety group March For Our Lives – founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting – said some 450 rallies were planned for Saturday.

It said it would not let politicians “sit back” as people continue to die.

US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to “pass common sense gun safety legislation”.

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US.

March For Our Lives (MFOL) said political leaders’ inaction was killing Americans.

“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” Trevon Bosley, a MFOL board member, said in a statement.

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

Rallies are being held in cities including Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The first MFOL protest was held days after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, in which 14 students and three adults were killed. Organisers say it was the largest gun safety rally in one day in US history, and thousands of students across the country left their classrooms to join the demonstrations.

Mr Biden, a Democrat who this month urged Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other gun control measures, said he supported Saturday’s protests.

“Today, young people around the country once again march with @AMarch4OurLives to call on Congress to pass common sense gun safety legislation, supported by the majority of Americans and gun owners,” he tweeted.

“I join them by repeating my call to Congress: do something.”

In recent weeks, a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators have vowed to hammer out a gun control deal, though they have yet to reach an agreement.

Their effort is focused on relatively modest changes, such as incentivising states to pass “red flag” laws that allow authorities to keep guns from individuals deemed a danger to others.

This week the US House of Representatives voted through a series of measures regulating the sale of guns.

But Republican opposition in the Senate means the bill has little chance of entering law.

BBC

Follow us on:

AriseNews

Recent Posts

President Tinubu Orders Probe Into Prosecution Of Minors From #EndBadGovernance Protests

President Tinubu has ordered an investigation into the arrest, prosecution of minors involved in #EndBadGovernance…

9 hours ago

Musk’s Lawyer Defends $1M-a-Day Giveaway, Denies Illegal Lottery Claims

Musk's $1M giveaway is under legal scrutiny in a Pennsylvania court case as it targets…

9 hours ago

Badenoch Unveils Shadow Cabinet with Jenrick As Shadow Justice Secretary, Patel As Shadow Foreign Secretary

Kemi Badenoch has appointed former rivals Jenrick, Patel, and Stride to senior roles in her…

9 hours ago

Boeing Workers Vote On New Contract To End Seven-Week Strike

Boeing workers voted Monday on a new contract to end a seven-week strike

9 hours ago

Former Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa Arrested By EFCC For Alleged N1.3 Trillion Diversion

EFCC has arrested ex-Delta governor Ifeanyi Okowa for alleged misuse of oil derivation funds, diverting…

9 hours ago

Search for Missing Persons Continues After Deadly Valencia Floods

Barcelona faces severe flooding as search and rescue efforts continue.

11 hours ago