(Image: Everytown)

A movement of students calling for gun control reform following the country’s latest school mass shooting is inspiring a wave of walkouts and marches including one planned for Saturday, March 24th starting at Cal Anderson.

A Seattle component of the March for Our Lives effort is planning to gather on 11th Ave on March 24th for a march to Seattle Center. Everytown, a nonprofit dedicated to gun control and addressing gun violence led by Michael Bloomberg, is organizing the events:

Thoughts and prayers are not enough to honor the victims of gun violence. What we need now is action. On March 24, 2018, students will rally in Washington D.C and in local communities across the country to demand action from our leaders. Join us in the March For Our Lives, as we fight for an America that is free from gun violence.

A school day walkout, meanwhile, is being planned for Wednesday, March 14th as the organizers from the Women’s March movement plan to rally in cities across the country.

A growing roster of participating groups at Seattle elementary, middle, and high schools as well as walkouts at the University of Washington and other area colleges can be found here.

Meanwhile, a third date is also being planned as activists look to mark the anniversary of 1999’s Columbine school shooting on April 20th.

17 people died — including 14 students — and 15 more were wounded in a Valentine’s Day shooting at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The arrested gunman, a former student who had been expelled from the school, was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and was carrying multiple magazines full of ammunition in the attack. Police say the incident lasted about six minutes.

In her State of the City address Tuesday, Mayor Jenny Durkan, a former prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney, said she will continue to push for “common sense gun safety laws,” saying schools are for joy and learning, “not lockdowns and mass shootings.”

Blistered by criticism in the wake of the latest mass shooting, the Trump administration and Republican leaders are opening the door to reforms including banning devices like bump stocks and creating more rigorous background check systems.

CHS reported here on what actions Seattle can take to help reduce gun violence.