Washington DC: Makenzie Hymes was so heartbroken by the latest shooting at a US school she decided to prepare an Australian history lesson for American politicians.

Hymes, a 13-year-old who loves dancing and the piano, wrote the story of Australia's gun control laws on a placard she took to the White House this week where she joined dozens of other school children demanding tougher gun laws.

Most students kept to short slogans.

13-year-old Makenzie Hymes, from Virginia, calling for gun law reform at a protest outside the White House on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Am I next?" read one.