WASHINGTON—The American teenagers who thronged the streets of their capital on Saturday came armed with the boundless hope of young idealists. And, as backup, the threats of savvy realists.They chanted about the guns they want to ban and the lobby group they want to defeat and the politicians they would, ideally, like to persuade. Knowing they might not succeed, not right now, what they chanted most frequently was a promise to punish the officials who refuse to listen.“Vote them out!” they cried, over and over, on a dozen jam-packed blocks of Pennsylvania Ave., the street that connects Republican President Donald Trump’s White House with the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress. “Vote them out!”Read more: In photos: Across the U.S., Canada and Europe, students are leading the charge for gun controlU.S. Congress tiptoes toward narrow gun legislation ahead of ‘March For Our Lives’ rallyMarch for our lives gun control supporters rally in TorontoThe extraordinary turnout at Washington’s March for Our Lives and at sister rallies across the country offered a vivid demonstration of a new student-fuelled momentum for the tightening of U.S. gun laws.The main event was too successful to be an actual moving march. Instead, well over 500,000 people stood shoulder to shoulder, boyish middle-schoolers beside weathered activists awed by them, and listened to the fiery new leaders of the gun control movement, none of whom has turned 20.Famous entertainers performed but did not give extended speeches. The headliners here were the organizers: survivors of the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, whose sights were squarely set on the 2018 and 2020 elections.“We will get rid of these public servants that only serve the gun lobby,” said David Hogg. “And we will save lives.”“Politicians: either represent the people or get out,” said Cameron Kasky. “The peopl ...
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