Gun Control Activists March on NRA Lobbying Office on Capitol Hill (photos)

Hundreds of gun control activists marched on the National Rifle Association’s lobbying office on Capitol Hill Aug. 27 to mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963.

Their purpose: “to send a unified message that the nation will no longer tolerate the easy availability of firearms that is turning intolerance and hate lethal and to protest the Washington gun lobby that is stalling meaningful gun reform legislation in Congress.”

The march and rally were organized by the National Action Network and the American Federation of Teachers. Other groups participating included the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Gays Against Guns, a new group in the LGBT community, formed in the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse Night Club shooting to spread awareness about gun violence.

Notables in attendance included Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Eleanor Smeal, three-term-president of the National Organization for Woman. Also present were Gwen Carr, mother of police violence victim Eric Garner; Korey Wise, one of the Central Park Five, who spent a decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit; and Cynthia Dawkins, mother of community activist Timothy Dawkins, who was murdered in D.C. in 2013. A 12-year-old student at Howard University Middle School, Ryan Battle, spoke eloquently from the podium and was a crowd favorite.

View our photos of the march and rally at the NRA lobbying office by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet.)