Iran Press/ America: At least 254 mass shootings have taken place in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. These include the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings.
Protesters have turned out to more than 450 rallies nationwide, with the largest gathering taking place in Washington, D.C., which started at noon and ended at 2 p.m.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser drew loud cheers from the crowd there as she called for common-sense gun laws, including mandatory background checks and a ban on assault rifles.
"We don't have to live like this," she said, adding that people in other countries "don't live like this."
The rallies were organized by March for Our Lives, a youth-driven organization first created by students who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
In Parkland, where the movement began, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Pine Trails Park Amphitheater Saturday morning to demand background checks for all gun sales, the implementation of "red-flag" laws, and an increase in the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
As talks on gun restrictions continue on Capitol Hill, the House passed a "red-flag" bill Thursday that would allow a judge to take firearms away from individuals who pose an imminent danger to themselves or others. The legislation, which drew five Republican votes, is viewed as having a greater chance of advancing than some of the other bills in the evenly split Senate.
On Wednesday, the US House also passed a series of new gun measures, which include raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. That legislative package is all but guaranteed to fail in the upper chamber because of Republican opposition.
In New York, at least dozen separate rallies were expected to take place.
Ten days after the Buffalo shooting, 19 students, mostly fourth graders, and two teachers were killed by a gunman who entered an elementary school in Uvalde on May 24.
In 2020, guns became the leading cause of death among people between the age of 1 and 19 in the US, more than vehicle crashes, drug overdoses, or cancer.
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