March For Our Lives Rally In Reisterstown: Watch

REISTERSTOWN, MD — Community members rallied against gun violence on Saturday afternoon in Reisterstown. The rally was among hundreds nationwide as part of the “March for Our Lives” movement.

Hannah Swird, 15, organized the event, which lasted from 1 to 2:30 p.m. About 60 people had turned out after 1 p.m., despite the rain at the outset of the march.

Protesters started their trek at Franklin High School and concluded at Franklin Middle School with three speeches from young people closing out the event.

Swird, a Pikesville High School sophomore whose family was victimized by gun violence, was among the speakers.

She said she was in first grade during the Sandy Hook shooting and in sixth grade for the shooting in Parkland, Fla. She said she led a walkout at her middle school at the time.

"Nobody has done anything about this problem," Swird said. "We need more restrictive gun laws. We need mental health initiatives. We need surveillance of social media for mentally ill people."

In the upcoming election, she asked people to vote for candidates who will push for change, since she and her younger sister are not yet old enough to vote.

"Gun violence is a hometown issue," Swird said. "How many people in Baltimore are killed every single year due to gun violence?" She said most people had a friend, loved one or relative who died due to gun violence.

"This keeps happening," Swird said. "We have no way to protect ourselves in school."

Watch the march on the Owings Mills-Reisterstown Patch Facebook page.

The demonstration came in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers.

More than 300 local marches were planned nationwide, including in Annapolis and Baltimore.

Related: Reisterstown To Protest Gun Violence At March For Our Lives Rally