Organizers Demand Lawmakers To Make Changes To Gun Laws During March For Our Lives Rally In West Philly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The March for Our Lives returned Saturday. More than 400 rallies were planned around the country to push for gun safety laws following the shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas.
One of those rallies was held in West Philadelphia.
"We are sick and tired of thoughts and prayers," one protestor said.
Protesters are renewing their push for gun control following a string of mass shootings around the country, including the one on South Street on June 4 that left 3 people dead and 11 others injured by gunfire.
"We're all dying," Mardean Murray said. "We're going extinct."
The March for Our Lives rally at Wyalusing Park Saturday morning drew about 200 people who stood in the rain while calling on lawmakers to take action.
"We're going to make sure Senator Toomey votes for common sense gun laws," Max Milkman, an organizer, said. "And we're going to make sure that we replace him in November with someone who's going to be a leader in this issue."
Protesters are demanding an assault weapons ban and universal background checks for gun buyers, part of a movement spearheaded by the survivors of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
"I personally lost people and I know a lot of people that have lost people, so I'm out here to support the cause," Caprice Cowan, who participated in the march, said.
During the rally, participants were surrounded by 51 T-shirts. Each T-shirt bears the name of one person who was recently shot and killed this year.
"They literally snatch your soul when they kill your child," Corliss Jackson, who lost her son to gun violence, said. "I will forever be empty."
Jackson participated in the march in West Philly on Saturday.
"The way that I get closure is by doing things like this and try to make changes and trying to see if we can shed some light to the pandemic of murders that is happening in Philly right now," Jackson said.
Even though the rally's over, protesters aren't going away.
Organizers are in the process of planning die-ins, town halls and voter registration events around the school schedule to keep the pressure on lawmakers.
