Hundreds of thousands worldwide join 'March for Our Lives' in support of gun control

Hundreds of thousands have marched on Washington and cities around the world in support of gun control.

Summoned by student survivors of the Florida school shooting, March For Our Lives protesters held signs reading "We Are the Change" and "Keep NRA Money Out of Politics".

Pictures showed a packed Pennsylvania Avenue from the stage near the Capitol, back towards the White House.

The message at the different rallies across the Us was consistent, with demonstrators vowing to vote out lawmakers who refuse to take a stand now on gun control.

Large rallies also unfolded in several US cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, Houston and at the site of the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.

The marches across the US marked the largest youth-led protests since those against the Vietnam War.

Protesters also flocked outside the US embassy in London to demand an end to mass shootings, pledging to "stay angry" until gun laws are reformed.

Relatives of Dunblane massacre victims were among hundreds of people who protested outside the US Consulate in Edinburgh in solidarity with other protests around the world, of which there were more than 800.

Protesters during the London March For Our Lives anti-gun rally outside the US Embassy in London. Credit: PA

Organisers hope the passions of the crowds around the world and the youth of speakers will translate into a tipping point that will lead to tighter gun regulation.

Sixteen-year-old Talia Rumsky, who was in class at Marjory Stoneman school in Parkland, Florida, when gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire, told how she is marching for change.

She said: "I’m really here to make sure we can make our voices heard, so people are empowered to make sure we vote in legislators so this doesn’t happen again.

"So we can avenge those who were stolen from us because someone thought it was OK to own weapons of mass destruction.”

Another survivor and prominent campaigner, David Hogg, told the gathered crowds: "If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking."

"We're going to take this to every election, to every state and every city. We're going to make sure the best people get in our elections to run, not as politicians but as Americans.

"Because this," he said, pointing behind him to the Capitol dome, "this is not cutting it."

People fill Pennsylvania Avenue during the 'March for Our Lives' Credit: AP

Some of the speakers in Washington were very young, with Naomi Wadler, an 11-year-old who led a walk out at her primary school to protest gun violence, saying she had attended the march to speak on behalf of African American girls "whose stories don't make the front page of every national newspaper.

"I represent the African-American women who are victims of gun violence who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential," Naomi said.

Also speaking at the same rally was Yolanda Renee King, the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior's nine-year-old granddaughter.

In a speech to the thousands assembled, she drew on her grandfather's infamous speech, stating: "I have a dream that enough is enough. That this should be a gun-free world. Period."

A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that 69% of Americans think gun laws in the United States should be tightened.

The poll also found that nearly half of Americans do not expect elected officials to take action.