Long Beach joined hundreds of thousands across the country who took to the streets on Saturday during a student-organized March For Our Lives event starting in Long Beach’s Alamitos Beach neighborhood.

Prior to the march, several student speakers, as well as Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Third District Councilmember Suzie Price and Los Angeles County Supervisor for the Fourth District Janice Hahn, delivered powerful speeches at Bixby Park on the importance of stricter gun laws.

Over 800 similar events took place across the country and worldwide, calling on Congress to pass legislation to protect and save children from gun violence, spurred by the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead.