In pics: Thousands stage protest for stricter guns laws in the wake of recent mass shootings

Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor and activist X Gonzalez speaks to gun control advocates during the "March for Our Lives" rally on across from the White House in Washington, DC, June 11, 2022. Protesters are demonstrating across the US for tighter firearms laws to curb devastating gun violence plaguing the country.

Thousands of gun control advocates join the "March for Our Lives" as they protest against gun violence during a rally near the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, DC, June 11, 2022. 

Parkland, Florida, school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver's parents Manuel Oliver (C) and Patricia Oliver (L) and Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg (R) speak to gun control advocates during the "March for Our Lives" rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, June 11, 2022. 

Crosses with the names of victims of gun violence are set up as demonstrators join the "March for Our Lives" rally in New York City on June 11, 2022. Protesters of March For Our Lives (MFOL) are saying that political leaders' inaction was killing Americans.

Thousands of gun control advocates join the "March for Our Lives" during a rally near the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

In 2018, the student-led organisation, founded by survivors of a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, held a rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nation's capital. Four years later, the demonstration was marked by frustration at the lack of progress. 

Guns are deeply ingrained in American society and the nation’s political debates. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms, and about a third of US adults say they personally own a gun. 

But the freedom to carry guns has only led to more gun violence in the US, killing more than 19,300 people so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. 

The March For Our Lives seeks an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

Outside of Washington, hundreds of other demonstrations were planned around the country Saturday, including in Parkland, where protesters carried signs with messages such as "Am I Next?".

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a broad package of proposals this week that included raising the purchasing age for most semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 — but the party does not have the requisite 60 votes to advance it in the Senate.

The spectre of gun violence also hung over the rally, where police and security forces had a heavy presence.. This week the US House of Representatives voted through a series of measures regulating the sale of guns. But Republican opposition in the Senate means the bill has little chance of entering law.