March For Our Lives: Offshoot In Fredericksburg

FREDERICKSBURG, VA—While hundreds of thousands of people are about to descend on Washington, DC, for perhaps the biggest march for gun control in U.S. history, an offshoot of the "March for Our Lives" will be held noon Saturday in Fredericksburg at the corner of Blue and Gray Highway (Route 3) and William Street.

Held by the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee, the event includes parking on Old William Street. Meanwhile, the official march also will take place noon Saturday on Pennsylvania Avenue from the U.S. Capitol to the Trump International Hotel blocks from the White House.

The marches come a little more than a month after 17 students and teachers were gunned down with an AR-15 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The traumatic event resulted in school walkouts nationwide, culminating in Saturday's massive rally, which could number 500,000 strong, according to the National Park Service.

The route will for the main march will run along Pennsylvania Avenue from Third Street to 12th Street. Much of the National Mall will be closed to vehicle traffic during the day. The event is likely to be a partisan clash, with pro-gun counter-protesters expected and coverage and debate on networks and cable news shows worldwide.

Gun rights advocates, led by the National Rifle Association, are pushing back on one of the biggest nationwide pushes for gun control in years, resisting efforts to raise the minimum age to own a gun or to ban guns like the AR-15 -- and even proposing to do the opposite by urging that teachers in schools be armed.

The march is being led by survivors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Cameron Kasky, a junior at the school, spearheaded an effort along with his classmates back on Feb. 18 to make the march happen.

Since then, the march has attracted donations from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, George and Amal Clooney, Stephen Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and a host of other big names. Celebrities like Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, and Demi Lovato will be marching in D.C. themselves.

Meanwhile, hundreds of other rallies such as the one in Fredericksburg will be taking place across the United States in solidarity with the event. You can visit their website to search for one near you.

Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images