PHOTOS: Montrealers mobilize for gun control

March for our Lives Montreal. Photos by Mackenzie Lad (scroll down for the gallery)

On Saturday March 24, hundreds of Montrealers gathered in Cabot Square to join a collective call for stricter gun control legislation in both the U.S. and Canada. Montreal was one of dozens of cities across North America to march in solidarity with the March for our Lives movement as they occupied Washington, D.C. on the same day.

The movement follows the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Survivors of the tragedy created the March for our Lives movement to challenge U.S. politicians on the still controversial subject of gun control. The Parkland shooting was the 28th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety research organization.

The issue is especially close to home for some Montrealers who continue to feel the residual trauma of the Polytechnique massacre in 1989, the Concordia shooting in 1992, the Dawson shooting in 2006 and last year’s Quebec Mosque shooting. Canadian gun laws were also put under scrutiny with the distribution of flyers calling on the Trudeau government to ban all assault weapons in Canada.

Before the protesters began making their way down Ste-Catherine Street en route to the American Consulate yesterday, several guest speakers took to the megaphone to voice their grievances about gun control in Canada. Among these speakers was a Parkland native and mother of two children who attended the Florida high school at the time of the shooting that left 17 dead and hundreds of others traumatized, her own children among them. She emphasized her gratitude towards the hundreds of Montrealers who showed up and participated in the collective call for change.

See photos from the Montreal demonstration here:

[lg_folder folder=”180325-marchforourlives-ml”]