Washington (AFP) - Thousands of people were expected to demonstrate across the United States on Saturday for tighter firearms laws to curb devastating gun violence plaguing the country, where Republican politicians have repeatedly blocked reforms.
Two horrific shootings last month -- one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 young children and two teachers, and another at a New York supermarket that left 10 Black people dead -- helped spark the call for the protests, which are planned at hundreds of locations.
But the problem of gun violence -- which has killed more than 19,300 people so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive -- goes far beyond high-profile mass killings, with more than half of those deaths due to suicide.
"After countless mass shootings and instances of gun violence in our communities, it's time to take back to the streets," March for Our Lives, which is organizing the demonstrations, said on its website.
"Demonstrate to our elected officials that we demand and deserve a nation free of gun violence," it said.
March for Our Lives was founded by survivors of the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, who organized a rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nation's capital in March 2018.
David Hogg, a founder and board member of the organization, appealed for Americans of all political stripes to take part in the Saturday protests.
"Whoever you are, march with us...Gun owners, NRA members, Republicans, Democrats, independents, and people from all backgrounds are fed up and it is time we make Congress do something," Hogg wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News the day before.
"If we can agree that killing children is unacceptable, then we need to either prevent people intent on killing from getting their hands on the guns they use or stop their intent to kill in the first place," he said.
Both issues have been in the spotlight in the wake of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, which was carried out by a gunman who bought two assault rifles shortly after turning 18.
- 'The bigger tragedy- '
Gun control advocates are calling for tighter restrictions or an outright ban on the rifles -- one of which was also used in the racially motivated supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York just 10 days before Uvalde.
Opponents of tougher regulations have meanwhile sought to cast mass shootings as primarily a mental health issue, not one of access to firearms.
Mariah Cooley, another March for Our Lives board member, highlighted the toll gun violence has taken on both her and the country.
"I lost important people in my life -- including my cousin -- to gun violence before the age of 18," Cooley wrote in a Friday op-ed for The Hill.
"While this statement in itself is a tragedy, the bigger tragedy is that this is a reality that far too many Americans can relate to," she said.
Frequent mass shootings lead to widespread outrage in the United States, where a majority of people support tighter gun laws, but opposition from many Republican lawmakers has long been a hurdle to major changes.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a broad package of proposals this week that included raising the purchasing age for most semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, but the party does not have the requisite 60 votes to advance it in the Senate.
A cross-party group of senators has also been working on a narrow collection of controls that could develop into the first serious attempt at gun regulation reform in decades.
The package would boost funding for mental health services and school security, narrowly expand background checks, and incentivize states to institute so-called "red flag laws" that enable authorities to confiscate weapons from individuals considered a threat.
But it does not include an assault weapons ban or universal background checks, meaning it will fall short of the expectations of President Joe Biden, progressive Democrats and anti-gun violence activists.
