Thousands March For Gun Control In Atlanta Saturday

ATLANTA, GA — Before taking to the streets of Atlanta, thousands assembled at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta Saturday as Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," as well as other motivational music, blared in the background.

Activists from all over the state came together to participate in the "March for Our Lives," that followed. In doing so, Atlanta joined hundreds of thousands of others in Washington D.C., and other cities calling for stricter gun control laws. Rallies, across the U.S. and internationally, were in response to the slaying of 17 students and teachers at a Parkland, Florida, high school last month by a student armed with an AR-15. The marches, which were called for by student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, included calls for increased gun control nationwide.

Three women who came to the march from Cumming, Ga., said they want to see background checks improved and automatic weapons done away with or more restricted.

"We definitely need more background checks and to make it harder to purchase a gun," Cosette Nelson said, who was holding a sign that read, "When did guns become more important than children?"

"We have to do a lot more to restrict buying a gun in the first place," Nelson said. "Young people don't have to have guns and young people don't need to be shot."

Nelson's friend, Tracy Butler, said she had a message for her legislators, "Get yourself together man! I want the AR-15 out the door. Don't let anybody have it. No kids. It's not necessary. It's not good for hunting or anything."

Jordan Roberts agreed. "Civilians shouldn't have AR-15s. They shouldn't have equipment to make it easier to make semi-automatic rifles faster. They shouldn't have semi-automatic rifles to begin with. It should just be a hell of a lot harder to get a gun in America."

The Atlanta march, which began at 11 a.m., was organized by The Georgia Alliance for Social Justice — the group that sprang from the 2017 Women's March in Atlanta. The group set up an online store to help raise funds for the Atlanta march.

Headcount, a non-partisan organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy, brought 50 volunteers to the event in order register people to vote. The group had a goal that each volunteer could get between five and 10 new voters registered.

The march started at the civil rights center, at Liberty Plaza, near the Georgia state capitol building. Student and adult leaders spoke to inspire marchers before the march, which headed south on Centennial Olympic Park Drive then east on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

According to the national March For Our Lives website, there were 827 events planned worldwide.

Nationally, student organizers planned the march, in collaboration with nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety and with the support of donors. Cameron Kasky, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, announced the march — along with his classmates.

The march attracted financial support from celebrities, including Amal and George Clooney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg, who are the most significant donors ($500,000 each). Many other celebrities offered support as well.

Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, and Demi Lovato were expected to join the marchers in D.C.

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