Thousands of young gun control activists took over New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday for the “Youth over Guns” march to protest gun violence.
Activist groups from several of New York City’s boroughs and marchers from other parts of the country converged Saturday for the march.
Ramon Contreras, a 19-year-old co-founder of the march, told local ABC News affiliate ABC 7 that more young people need to be involved in the issue.
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“Gun violence extends beyond the pull of a trigger. Some of the roots, it goes to a lack of funding, and lack of effort towards our public school educational system and lack of funding towards local gun violence prevention groups who work on this issue for years now and work on the ground with students, and they are getting the funding and attention that they need,” Contreras said.
The organization reportedly teamed up with a number of organizations, including March for Our Lives NYC. March for Our Lives, started by the survivors of February’s shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school, marked the beginning of a renewed push for gun control legislation.
The march comes on National Gun Violence Awareness Day and just two weeks after a gunman opened fire in a Santa Fe, Texas, high school, killing 10 people.