Huge Turnout For Glen Ellyn March For Our Lives

GLEN ELLYN, IL — More than 1,000 Glen Ellyn residents donned winter coats and hats on the first Saturday of spring to join one of 800 March for Our Lives events throughout the nation. The marches, which coincided with a larger march on Washington D.C., demanded gun control reform in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Throngs of marchers —many of them children— filled the streets of downtown Glen Ellyn and spilled onto the sidewalks, carrying signs that read "It's Easier to Get a Gun Than to Get An Education" and simply "#Enough."

Community members and public figures shared moving stories and motivational speeches throughout the event. Hadiya Afzal, who is running for a seat on the DuPage County District 4 board, said on Twitter that she was "glad" to have spoken twice at the rally. She added, "[T]he support from my community has been incredibly heartening."

NIU shooting survivor Lauren Carr was also present during the Glen Ellyn March for Our Lives. Carr was a student at NIU when a gunman opened fire and killed five people. The NIU massacre took place on Feb. 14, 2008, exactly 10 years to the date before the Parkland, Florida shooting.

Glen Ellyn is part of the Illinois 6th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Pete Roskam (R). Roskam's views on guns have prompted many in the district to stand behind Sean Casten, the district's Democratic nominee. It remains to be seen whether Casten will unseat Roskam in November.

>>>Image credit:Getty Images/Ethan Miller / Staff