March for Our Lives: Hundreds of Thousands Gather Worldwide to Protest US Gun Violence

Thousands of protesters have swarmed into the US capital and cities across the world to march for gun control and ignite political activism among the young.

"If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking," David Hogg, a survivor of the Florida school shooting who has emerged as one of the student leaders of the movement, told the roaring crowd of demonstrators at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington.

He warned: "We will get rid of these public servants who only care about the gun lobby."

Chanting "Vote them out!" and bearing signs reading "We Are the Change", "No More Silence" and "Keep NRA Money Out Of Politics", the protesters packed Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House.

Large rallies with crowds estimated in the tens of thousands in many cases also unfolded in such cities as Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Fort Worth, Minneapolis, and Parkland, Florida, the site of the February 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

Emma Gonzalez, survivor of the Florida school shooting delivered a powerful speech at the Washington DC rally.

"In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us," González said at the beginning of her speech. "Everyone who was there understands. Everyone who has been touched by the cold grip of gun violence understands."

"For us, long, tearful, chaotic hours in the scorching in the afternoon sun were spent not knowing," she continued. "No one could understand the extent of what had happened. No one could believe that there were bodies in that building waiting to be identified for over a day."

"For those who still can't comprehend because they refuse to, I'll tell you where it went:...