Rally Outside Capitol Calls for Immediate Action to End Culture of Gun Violence

Parents, survivors and lawmakers gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday to call for immediate action to end what they say is a culture of gun violence in the United States.

Zoe Touray, 18, said she will never forget Nov. 30, the day a 15-year-old student took his parents’ gun to school outside Detroit. Four Oxford High School students were killed. Seven others were injured.

The shooter and his parents were charged in the mass shooting.

“Over these past six months, I have barely slept one peaceful night,” Touray said, describing the trauma she still experiences.

Touray relives that day every day she hears about another mass shooting.

“It’s definitely sad me and a lot of other survivors, people from Oxford High School, get together and kind of have sleepovers or bonfires because none of us want to be alone because it’s kind of gut wrenching to hear about it again,” she said.

Touray was one of several speakers at the Don’t Look Away gun violence rally where Democratic members of Congress once again called for tougher gun safety laws.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser added her voice to the call for action.

“I’m Muriel Bowser. I’m the mayor of Washington, D.C. I’m a mom and I demand action,” she said.

“There’s nothing like a ticked off group of moms who are organized to change the world,” Bowser said.

As hundreds gathered outside, inside members of Congress heard directly from survivors of gun violence.

Touray has hope Democrats and Republicans will get together and take action to stop the gun violence.

“There’s definitely a lot of political momentum on both sides this time, so I’m definitely really excited about that,” she said.

As many as 100,000 people are expected in D.C. Saturday for the March for Our Lives gun violence protest on the grounds of the Washington Monument.