Tens of thousands of people gathered at Union Park in Chicago on Saturday to demand stronger gun control laws in light of rising mass shootings across the United States.
The event was a part of the nationwide “March for Our Lives” rallies that was first organized by the survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb 14 in the city of Parkland, Florida. The incident left 17 people dead.
Although the temperature was around zero degrees on the day, it still could not stop people from participating in the rally.
At the gathering, several students from high schools spoke about their personal experiences in shooting incidents and stressed the urgency for the federal government to pass tighter gun control laws.
“It’s kind of sickening for me to wake up after sleeping and seeing that there’s another mass shootings at a high school, a night club and at a navy yard and anything. I think a main concern for me is that we don’t have enough gun control,” said Michael, a student.
“I’m here because especially a lot of gun violence, shootings, unnecessary things that shouldn’t be happening in Chicago that’s happening. And I’m just here with the family, to support because it’s too much going on, it’s just crazy,” said Anthony, another student.
Frequent shootings have been troubling residents in Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. There are approximately 400 gun fatalities and 100 murder cases in the city so far this year, according to the latest data from Chicago Police Department.
Similar anti-gun violence rallies were also held across the country on Saturday in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington, DC for the main rally.
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