PA Gov. Declares Saturday 'March For Our Lives Day'

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has proclaimed March 24 “March for Our Lives Day” across the Keystone State.

Several "March for Our Lives" events are planned Saturday across Pennsylvania. The main march will be held in Washington, D.C., but in total, there are more than 800 sister marches. The events are organized by student leaders in an effort to advocate for an end to mass shootings in the nation's schools.

In the Philadelphia area, students have planned marches in Philadelphia, Doylestown, Norristown, Pottstown, West Chester and more. You can click here to find a complete listing of the sister marches.

Saturday's planned marches follow a coordinated school walkout earlier this month. On March 14, thousands of Pennsylvania students left their classrooms to pay tribute to the 17 victims of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The walkout, for many students, was also a call to action to strengthen gun laws and draw attention to the lack of safety in the nation's schools.

The governor's office also announced Friday he has sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation praising recent gun safety measures now a part of the federal omnibus bill and calling on lawmakers to take further action, including a ban of military-style weapons.

The $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill unveiled this week supports increased background checks and would allow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence, according to reports.

“I write today to thank you for listening to these students and taking important steps to prevent another tragedy like the one in Parkland, but also to urge you to take additional action to ban military style weapons that have been used to commit these heinous crimes," Gov. Wolf wrote in the letter to the state's congressional delegation.

You can view his complete letter here.

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