They marched in Easton, Allentown, Washington, D.C., and hundreds of other cities across the country, united in a call to end gun violence.
Called the March for Our Lives, the events Saturday across the country were organized by student protesters in response to school shootings.
In Easton, there was a hopeful air on the Lafayette College campus, where well more than 100 college and high school students gathered late on the clear morning. They posed for photos and selfies in the warm sun and admired each others' handmade signs.
"We all just have positive attitudes about it," said Maddy McLaughlin, a Lafayette sophomore from Doylestown and one of the student organizers. "We're hoping to have our voices heard."
Just before noon, the call to march went out. Down the steps from College Hill they went, a solid line of young protesters making their way along city sidewalks to Centre Square, where hundreds more met them with cheers.
Easton's was one of more than 800 similar marches planned across the U.S., including one in nearby Allentown. Other advertised marches in the region included Stroudsburg, Pottstown and Doylestown in Pennsylvania, and Newton, Princeton, Somerville, and Morristown in New Jersey.
The crowd fills Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., during the March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Half a million demonstrators were expected Saturday at the primary march in Washington, D.C. -- matching last year's women's march and make it one of the largest since the Vietnam era, according to the Associated Press.
The main march in Washington, D.C., was led by survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the March for Our Lives website says. Seventeen people, including a school staffer with Easton ties, were killed in the shooting.
The Huffington Post reported this week that a board of adults is supervising fundraising efforts that have topped $3 million that is meant for gun safety legislation and support for victims' families.
Students were said to be the primary drivers of the other organized marches as well.
The stated goal of March for Our Lives is to make students' lives and safety a priority, and that Congress take action to end gun violence and mass shootings.
"This isn't a political rally. It's literally a march for our lives," writes Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of Parkland shooting in a message on the March for Our Lives site.
"I believe the young people in this country can change the world," Gonzalez writes. "And wouldn't that be something?"
A poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 69 percent of respondents and half of Republicans now favor stronger gun control laws.
The march in Easton did not shy away from politics. Student speakers, encouraged by the crowd, spoke openly of gun control measures. They sang songs, recited poetry and read aloud a list of every school shooting since 20 children were killed in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Students from Easton and Phillipsburg high schools were among the speakers. Adults and children listened from the square, some who crossed through a fountain (empty for the winter) to sit on the city's Civil War monument.
"Enough is enough," one person's sign said.
"It could have been any of us," said another, with mimicked blood spatter.
"History has its eyes on you," said yet another among the sea of placards.
The protesters also had their eyes on a small counter-demonstration happening around the square. A group of about 15 stood on a street corner just outside the protest with signs affirming the Second Amendment, with a handful of others standing within the circle but on the edge of the protest.
"I will protect you," said a sign held by one man who was openly carrying a handgun. In smaller letters underneath: "Don't tread on me!"
When the rally officially wrapped up about 1 p.m., both sides stood opposite each other on the street facing each other with their signs.
Eventually, the protest and counter-protest were intermingled. While some spoke to each other, there were no apparent signs of trouble and all dispersed after some time.
March for Our Lives brought hundreds to Easton's Centre Square as part of a national protest against gun violence happening in hundreds of cities on March 24, 2018. (Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com)
Matt Bensa, a Lafayette freshman from Reading and another of the organizers of Easton's March for Our Lives rally, said the display showed opinion is on the students' side.
"Protesting is ... a sign of social change," he said. "Seeing 400 or 500 people here and five counter-protesters is a distinct sign of what people believe."
The March for Our Lives is the second of three similar but separate national events focusing on gun violence.
National Walkout Day was March 14, when students left class for 17 minutes -- one minute for each victim of the Parkland shooting. Students in several Lehigh Valley-area schools participated, and other districts held in-school events.
On April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, the Network for Public Education encourages a "day of action to prevent gun violence." Its suggestions to educators include wearing orange, organizing sit-ins, assemblies and a moment of silence.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.