Hundreds of students, families and community members gathered in De La Guerra Plaza in Santa Barbara for the March For Our Lives rally Saturday morning, with signs and speakers calling for an end to school shootings and gun violence in the United States. 

Student organizers held a rally at 11 a.m. and started a march up State Street to Victoria Street at 11:45 a.m., with more than 1,200 people in the crowd, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.

March For Our Lives events were planned all over the country Saturday in the wake of the fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. 

Area students, teachers and state Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, addressed the crowd.

“Americans must decide to either listen to the youth or sit back and continue to let the gun lobby… and the adults who forget each mass murder…to run this nation,” said Isabel “Izzy” Huerta, a junior at San Marcos High School. “My generation rallied to end this plague.”

Santa Barbara City College student advocate Krystle Farmer said gun violence must not be overlooked in communities.

“How do we have a conversation about all the black bodies that have died to gun violence from our law enforcement?” Farmer asked the cheering crowd. “White supremacy is the root of the problem.”

Danielle Swoitek, a SBCC associate professor of history, held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the gun violence, including the six people killed on May 23, 2014, in the Isla Vista shooting massacre.

“We honor the pain of the survivors, the mothers, fathers, sisters, friends, and families who lost loved ones to gun violence,” Swoitek said.

There are roughly 13,000 gun deaths in the United States annually, she said.

“Enough is enough,” Swoitek said. “Let us move forward today to put an end to gun violence.”

Dena Davis, a mother of two sons, 7 and 12, who attend Santa Barbara public schools, participated in the march with her son Benjamin, who has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome.

“It’s an emotional day,” said Davis, who is an advocate for disability rights and inclusion.

Santa Maria Valley students were joined by adults Saturday for the March for Our Lives rally in front of the Santa Maria High School which sits across the street from a gun shop.  (Janene Scully / Noozhawk photo)

The former elementary-level educator said she fears for her kids' safety at school.

“We can practice drills… or we can ban weapons of war,” Davis said.

She called for universal background checks on guns, more studies on gun violence, and voting out elected officials who don’t take action.

She recalled the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. She was living in Maine at the time.

“My morning was shaken to the core,” Davis said. “Too many first graders were killed. After Sandy Hook we all demanded gun reform, and sure something would change, but nothing did.”

Santa Barbara native Leana Orsua’s friend Denise Cohen was killed last year at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, she said.

Cohen, of Carpinteria, and Derrick Bo Taylor of Oxnard died in the attack. 

“Denise died doing what she loved the most — dancing,” Orsua said. “She was free and happy because she felts safe, but she wasn’t.”

Orsua said condolences and social media posts won’t solve the problem.

“How many more people have to suffer before our politicians stop looking the other way?” Orsua asked the protesters waving their signs. “Our safety is being compromised.”

Santa Barbara native Annette Cordero, a member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation and SBCC faculty member in the English skills department, offered a prayer during the gathering.

Cordero said schools are places for learning.

“It’s a place that we should be able to send them and trust they are going to be coming home and more educated than when they left in the morning,” Cordero said. “They are living in fear and uncertainty.” 

Students and adults gathered in front of Santa Maria High School for the March for Our Lives on Saturday. (Janene Scully / Noozhawk photo)

In northern Santa Barbara County, marches occurred in Lompoc and Santa Maria.

On Saturday afternoon, approximately 120 Santa Maria Valley students and adults showed up in front of Santa Maria High School for a rally and walk in connection with the March For Our Lives.

“We want to tell Congress we want change now, not tomorrow, not in a month but now,” one student told the crowd.

Participants, many armed with signs and shouting “Enough is enough,” walked to the east side of South Broadway to stand in front of Get R Gun located across from the campus.

Passing drivers on Broadway honked horns and revved engines in response to the crowd. 

Last week, hundreds of local high school students walked out of classes as part of the National School Walkout to protest gun violence, which was held one month after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

On the day of the walkouts, two Santa Maria Valley schools and an Atascadero school district locked down their campuses after a threat of a shooting in a social media post.

The student responsible for the post was arrested by Atascadero police, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. 

Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.

Noozhawk North County Editor Janene Scully and Noozhawk reporter Brooke Holland reported from the scenes for this story.

— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.