'No more silence': Hundreds rally in Toronto for tighter U.S. gun controls

Hundreds of people descended in Toronto for the March For Our Lives rally to show solidarity with the growing U.S. gun control movement in the wake of last month's mass school shooting. 

The Toronto rally got underway at 10 a.m. Saturday at Nathan Phillips Square, where demonstrators began the 1.5-kilometre march to Queen's Park calling for tighter gun laws in the states.

Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Toronto by midday to show their support for the cause. (Natalie Nanowski/CBC)

Along the way, organizers held a moment of silence in front of the U.S. consulate for the 14 students and three staff members of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., who were killed on Valentine's Day.

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Their deaths have reignited public anger over mass shootings and sparked a groundswell of protest throughout the U.S. organized by some of the students who were at the school that day. These students say they have taken their anger and turned it into activism.

Students in Toronto marched in honour of the 17 victims killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. (Amara McLaughlin/CBC)

"No more silence, end gun violence," members of the Communities for Zero Violence, which organized the Toronto rally, chanted as they marched north along University Avenue in the city's downtown area. "The time for change is now."

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Demonstrators marched from Nathan Phillips Square to Queen's Park. (Amara McLaughlin/CBC)

The Toronto protest coincides with at least eight rallies planned in Canadian cities, from Victoria to St. John's. More than 800 demonstrations were scheduled worldwide, including a March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of thousands of Americans aimed to break through a legislative gridlock that has long stymied efforts to tighten firearm controls.

Many demonstrators in Toronto carried placards as they marched downtown to show support for the U.S. gun control movement. (Amara McLaughlin/CBC)

Mass shootings at American schools and colleges have become a regular occurrence.

Demonstrators marched north along University Avenue chanting 'no more silence end gun violence.' (Amara McLaughlin/CBC)