On Saturday, March 24, around 8,000 to 20,000 people protested against gun violence of all kind. From small arms homicides to school shootings everyone showed their dislike of the NRA and the rest of the government’s gun control laws. There was a wide range of people there from different ethnicities, ages, and wealth. The whole event went from 9am to 1pm, there were a lot of signs and plenty of chants.

The first half consisted of speeches from high schoolers around the area, the mayor, a civil rights activist, the mother of a survivor of the Douglas shooting, and some LGBTQ people. The schools who gave speeches were Mayfield, Amherst, Strongsville, and others. The second half of the protest consisted of a march that began at Ontario went to Lakeside then to East 6th and finally back at Public Square.

They brought up very controversial things like the NRA’s lobbyist ways and how the government hasn’t felt with any of the problems. They talked about how many victims there’s been and how many families have suffered, also how you only have to be 18 to buy a gun and how getting a car is more trouble than a gun. Bump stocks and High Capacity Magazines were brought up and how they want a ban on those.

One of the many speaker was from an Adult Swim writer and he said something that has a lot of truth to it, he said “If only 5 people die to shooting nobody is concerned, but when 10 are we see it as horrible. We’re so desensitized as society, all killings by a gun is horrible.” Overall there was a great turnout with little counter-protest and great activism.