'This just needs to stop': Hundreds of thousands decry guns

Summoned to action by student survivors of the Florida school shooting, hundreds of thousands of teenagers and their supporters rallied in the nation's capital and cities across America on Saturday to press for gun control in one of the biggest youth protests since the Vietnam era.

"If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking," David Hogg, a survivor who has emerged as one of the student leaders of the movement, told the roaring crowd of demonstrators at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington.

Demonstrators cheer during a "March for Our Lives" protest for gun legislation and school safety Saturday, March 24, 2018. Students and activists across the country planned events Saturday in conjunction with a Washington march spearheaded by teens from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where over a dozen people were killed in February. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

He warned: "We will get rid of these public servants who only care about the gun lobby."

Chanting "Vote them out!" and bearing signs reading "We Are the Change," ''No More Silence" and "Keep NRA Money Out of Politics," hundreds of thousands of protesters packed Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House.

Large rallies with crowds estimated in the tens of thousands in some cases also unfolded in such cities as Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Houston; Phoenix; Fort Worth, Texas; Minneapolis; and Parkland, Florida, the site of the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

Protesters denounced the National Rifle Association and its allies and complained that they are scared of getting shot in school and tired of inaction by grown-ups after one mass shooting after another.

They called for such measures as a ban on high-capacity magazines and assault-type rifles like the one used by the Florida killer, tighter background checks and school security, and a raising of the age to buy guns.

"I'm really tired of being afraid at school," said Maya McEntyre, a 15-year-old high school freshman from Northville, Michigan, who joined a march by thousands in Detroit. "When I come to school, I don't want to have to look for the nearest exit."

She added: "I want to get to the problem before it gets to me."

Connor Feliu of Syracuse N.Y., covered in red paint, attends the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control in Washington, Saturday, March 24, 2018, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

In Atlanta, Ben Stewart, a 17-year-old senior at Shiloh Hills Christian School in Kennesaw, Georgia, took part in a march in Atlanta to press for what he called "common-sense gun laws."

"People have been dying since 1999 in Columbine and nothing has changed. People are still dying," Stewart said. "It could be prevented."

Callie Cavanaugh, a 14-year-old at a march in Omaha, Nebraska, said: "This just needs to stop. It's been going on my entire life."

President Donald Trump was in Florida for the weekend. A motorcade took him to his West Palm Beach golf club in the morning. As of early afternoon, he had yet to weigh in on Twitter about the protests.

The NRA went silent on Twitter in the morning, in contrast to its reaction to the nationwide school walkouts against gun violence March 14, when it tweeted a photo of an assault rifle and the message "I'll control my own guns, thank you."

About 30 gun-rights supporters staged a counter-demonstration in front of FBI headquarters in Washington, standing quietly with signs such as "Armed Victims Live Longer" and "Stop Violating Civil Rights." Other gun-control protests around the country were also met with small counter-demonstrations.

Brenda Myers, center, comforts her daughter Jamie, who is an Ooltewah Middle School student, after a moment of silence at a "March for Our Lives" rally in Coolidge Park on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Organizers of the big rally in the nation's capital hoped their protest would match in numbers and spirit last year's women's march, which far exceeded predictions of 300,000 demonstrators.

"We will continue to fight for our dead friends," Delaney Tarr, another survivor of the Florida tragedy, declared from the stage. The crowd roared with approval as she laid down the students' central demand: a ban on "weapons of war" for all but warriors.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 9-year-old granddaughter Yolanda Renee King gave a rousing speech at the Washington rally, drawing from the civil rights leader's most famous words.

"I have a dream that enough is enough," she said. "That this should be a gun-free world. Period."

In Parkland, the police presence was heavy as more than 20,000 people filled a park near the school, chanting slogans such as "Enough is enough" and carrying signs that read "Why do your guns matter more than our lives?" and "Our ballots will stop bullets."

Lillie Perez, 11, holds a sign during a "March for Our Lives" protest for gun legislation and school safety Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Houston. Students and activists across the country planned events Saturday in conjunction with a Washington march spearheaded by teens from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where over a dozen people were killed in February. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Gun violence was also fresh for some in the Washington crowd: Ayanne Johnson of Great Mills High in Maryland held a sign declaring, "I March for Jaelynn," honoring Jaelynn Willey, who died Thursday two days after being shot by a classmate at the school. The classmate also died.

Rallying outside the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord, 17-year-old Leeza Richter said: "Our government will do more to stop us from walking out than it will to stop a gunman from walking in."

Since the bloodshed in Florida, students have tapped into a current of gun control sentiment that has been building for years — yet still faces a powerful foe in the NRA and its supporters.

Organizers hope the passions of the crowds and the under-18 roster of speakers will translate into a tipping point starting with the midterm congressional elections this fall. In addition to pushing for tighter gun laws, the students have been working to register young people to vote.

Polls indicate public opinion in the U.S. may be shifting on the issue.

A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 69 percent of Americans think gun laws in the U.S. should be tightened. That is up from 61 percent in 2016 and 55 percent in 2013.

Overall, 90 percent of Democrats, 50 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of gun owners now favor stricter gun laws.

At the same time, the poll found that nearly half of Americans do not expect elected officials to take action.

Protesters fill a street during a march in favor of gun control Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Seattle. Summoned to action by student survivors of the Florida school shooting, hundreds of thousands of teenagers and their supporters rallied in the nation's capital and cities across America on Saturday to press for gun control. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

People taking part in a march against gun violence walk along 6th Avenue in New York Saturday, March 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

People take part in a march rally against gun violence Saturday, March 24, 2018, in New York. Tens of thousands of people poured into the nation's capital and cities across America on Saturday to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

People take part in a march rally against gun violence Saturday, March 24, 2018, in New York. Tens of thousands of people poured into the nation's capital and cities across America on Saturday to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Protesters hold up signs outside the US Embassy in London, Saturday March 24, 2018, in solidarity with the “March for Our Lives” protest against gun violence. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Ayanne Johnson, a student from Great Mills High School in southern Maryland holds up the photograph of her classmate Jaelynn Willey during the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control in Washington, Saturday, March 24, 2018. Willey was killed by a classmate this week at the school in southern Maryland. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Crowds of people hold signs on Pennsylvania Avenue at the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control, Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Crowds of people hold signs on Pennsylvania Avenue at the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control, Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sofia Briceno, left, and Josie Dang, hold banners during the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control in Washington, Saturday, March 24, 2018, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Looking west from the stage area, the crowd fills Pennsylvania Avenue during the "March for Our Lives" rally in support of gun control, Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Demonstrators pass a makeshift memorial to school shooting victims during a "March for Our Lives" protest for gun legislation and school safety Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Houston. Students and activists across the country planned events Saturday in conjunction with a Washington march spearheaded by teens from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed in February. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A 14-year-old student has been arrested after bringing a gun on Wednesday to Apalachee High School, the same Georgia high school where a shooting in September killed two teachers and two students and wounded others.

The Barrow County Sheriff's Office said school resource officers arrested the boy “without incident” Wednesday afternoon at the school in Winder, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. Deputies said the student was “cooperative and compliant when encountered by law enforcement officers and there have been no reports of the student threatening anyone with the gun.”

The student, who wasn't named because of his age, was taken to a juvenile detention center in Gainesville. He's charged with two counts of possessing a weapon on school grounds, theft and being a minor in possession of a gun. Deputies didn't say what kind of gun was seized. Authorities said the student was arrested shortly after 2 p.m. at school, but they did not say when he arrived or release details of the circumstances of the arrest.

The Barrow County school district canceled classes on Thursday at the high school with nearly 2,000 students, located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of downtown Atlanta.

The Sept. 4 shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them hit by gunfire.

Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time, was charged as an adult after the September shooting and was indicted on 55 counts, including murder and 25 counts of aggravated assault at the high school. He has pleaded not guilty. His father, Colin Gray, was indicted on 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, based on prosecutors' contention that Colin Gray let his son access guns and ammunition “after receiving sufficient warning” that the boy would harm others. Colin Gray has also pleaded not guilty.

The district told parents that students and staff should not report to school Thursday and that on-campus extracurricular activities were canceled. The district also canceled an open house to view new portable classrooms that were erected on campus to replace classrooms in the now closed-off hallway where the shooting took place

Wednesday's arrest came after some students, teachers and parents attended a Barrow County school board meeting on Tuesday to demand that the district take additional visible measures to enhance security at Apalachee. They suggested even more school resource officers, mandating clear backpacks and buying a computerized camera system that the maker says can detect guns using artificial intelligence.

Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said at the meeting that the district will present results from a security survey later this month and has met with school resource officers to discuss what security measures they recommend.

“It has been a very intentional process,” LeDuff said. “I think I am proud of the work our staff has done.”

FILE - A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after a school shooting, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)