WASHINGTON – Galvanised by a massacre at a Florida high school, hundredsof thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets in citiesacross the United States on Saturday in the biggest protest for gun controlin a generation.

The student-organised “March For Our Lives” is to feature rallies fromcoast to coast, with the main event scheduled to take place in Washingtonwithin sight of the US Capitol.

“The kids are leading the movement,” said Democratic Senator Chris Murphyof Connecticut, where 20 children aged six and seven years old were killedin December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida —where 17 people were shot dead on February 14 by a 19-year-old formerclassmate — have been the driving force behind the march.

With a mixture of outrage and passion, they have been relentlesslybadgering US lawmakers to enact a ban on assault rifles and to expandbackground checks to cover all gun purchases, even private sales.

“The march is just the start,” said Aalayah Eastmond, a 17-year-old juniorwho took shelter beneath the body of a classmate during the StonemanDouglas shooting.

“Columbine happened — nothing´s changed. Sandy Hook happened — nothing´schanged. Parkland happened — nothing´s changed,” Eastmond said.

“We will fight for this until change happens,” she said at an event withmembers of US Congress.

Since the Parkland shooting, the state of Florida and the US Congress havemade only modest tweaks to gun laws and President Donald Trump´s proposalto arm teachers has been met with widespread resistance.

Organizers say more than 800 marches are being held across the country andaround the world under the slogan #NeverAgain, with the Washington eventalone anticipated to attract at least 500,000 people.

The protests are expected to be the largest for gun control in the UnitedStates — which has more than 30,000 gun-related deaths a year — since theMillion Mom March in May 2000. – APP / AFP