![MARCH FOR OUR LIVES](https://static.politico.com/dims4/default/407be67/2147483647/resize/1160x/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Fd6%2F2e%2F6cfaff1e4c3a963159027ef8e993%2Fledephotomarch.jpg)
Hundreds of thousands of people from across the country descended on Washington Saturday to demand action on gun control in a mass demonstration that could rival the annual women’s marches sparked by President Donald Trump’s election.
Spurred by the school shooting in Parkland, Florida last month, the “March for Our Lives” has the backing of well-funded gun control groups like Everytown for Gun Safety. They are organizing youth voter registration drives and running crash courses on activism and public policy.
More than 800 “sibling” marches are planned across the United States and in other countries on Saturday.
The demonstration is the culmination of years of inaction by lawmakers as mass shootings have continued unabated in America. Left-leaning activists, feeling stymied by the National Rifle Association’s lobbying, are wielding one of the few tools they have left: taking to the streets to demand change.